VOLUME X. JANUARY, 1907. NUMBER 3. 

THE QUARTERLY 

OF THE 

TEXAS STATE HISTORICAL 
ASSOCIATION 



PUBLICATION COMMITTEE: 

David F. Houston. 
George P. Garrison. Bride Neill Taylor. 

Z. T. FuLMORE. W. J. Battle. 

EDITOR: 
George P. Garrison. 

ASSOCIATE EDITORS: 
Herbert Eugene Bolton. Eugene C. Barker. 



CONTENTS. 

The Seat op Govbknment of Texas Ernest William Winkler 

A Study of the Route of Cabeza de Vac a. James Newton Baskett 

Book Reviews and Notices. 

AUSTIN, TEXAS. 
published quarterly by the association. 



Prtccy FIFTY CENTS per number. 

lEntered at the Poatoflace at Austin, Texas, as second class matter.! 



The Texas State Historical Association. 

PRESIDENT: 
David F. Houston. 

VICE-PRESIDENTS : 
*W. D. Wood, R. L. Batts, 

Beauregard Bryan, Milton J. Bliem. 

RECORDING SECRETARY AND LIBRARIAN: 

George P. Garrison. 

CORRESPONDING SECRETARY AND TREASURER: 
Eugene C. Barker. 

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL: 

President David F. Houston, 

Ex-President Dudley G. Wooten, 

First Vice-President *W. D. Wood, 

Second Vice-President Beauregard Bryan, 

Third Vice-President R. L. Batts, 

Fourth Vice-President Milton J. Bliem, 

Recording Secretary and Librarian George P. Garrison, 

State Librarian E, W. W^inkler. 

( Z. T. Fulmore for term ending 1909. 
Fellows \ John C. Townes for term ending 1908. 

( Herbert E. Bolton for term ending 1907. 

/ Bride Neill Taylor for term ending 1911. 
Is. P.Brooks for term ending 1910. 
Members ! S. H. Moore for term ending 1909. 
J W. J. Battle for term ending 1908. 
I Dora Fowler Arthur for term ending 1907. 

The Association was organized March 2, 1897. The annual dues are two 
dollars. The Quarterly is sent free to all members. 

Contributions to The Quarterly and correspondence relative to historical 
material should be addressed to 

GEORGE P. GARRISON, 
Recording Secretary and Librarian, 
Austin, Texas. 

Business communications should be addressed to 

HERBERT E. BOLTON, 
or LUTHER E. WIDEN, 

Austin, Texas. 

All other correspondence concerning the Association should be addressed 

to EUGENE C. BARKER, 

Corresponding Secretary and Treasurer, 

Austin, Texas. 
^Deceased. 



FELLOWS AND LIFE MEMBERS 

OF THE 

ASSOCIATION 



The constitution of the Association provides that "Members 
who show, by published work, special aptitude for historical 
investigation, may become Fellows. Thirteen Fellows shall be 
elected by the Association when first org-anized, and the body 
thus created may thereafter elect additional Fellows on the 
nomination of the Executive Council. The number of Fellows 
shall never exceed fifty." 

The present list of Fellows is as follows: 

Bakker, Mr. Eugene C. Kleberg, Rudolph, Jr. 

Batts, Judge R. L. Lemmon, Prof. Leonard 
Bolton,Prof.Herbert Eugene Looscan, Mrs. Adele B. 

Casis, Prof. Lilia M. McCaleb, Dr. W. F. 

Clark, Prof. Robert Carlton Miller, Mr. E. T. 

Cooper, President O. H. Pennybacker, Mrs. Percy V. 

CooPwooD, Judge Bethel Rather, Ethel Zivley 

Cox, Dr. I. J. Shepard, Judge Seth 

Estill, Prof. H. L. Smith, Prof. W. Roy 

FuLMORE, Judge Z. T. Townes, Prof. John C. 

Gaines, Judge R. R. Williams, Judge O. W. 

Garrison, Prof. George P. Winkler, Mr. Ernest William 

Gray, Mr. A. C, Wooten, Hon. Dudley G. 
Houston, President D. F. 

The constitution provides also that "Such benefactors of the 
Association as shall pay into its treasury at any one time the sum 
of thirty dollars, or shall present to the Association an equivalent 
in books, MSS., or other acceptable matter, shall be classed as 
Life Members." 

The Life Members at present are: 
Brackenridge, Hon. Geo. W. Cox, Mrs. Nellie Stedman 



THE QUARTERLY 



OF THE 



TEXAS STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION 
Vol. X. JANUARY, 1907. No. 3. 

Th« publication committee and the editors disclaim responsibility for views 
expressed by contributors to Thb Quarterly, 

THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT OF TEXAS. 

ERNEST WILLIAM WINKLER. 

II 

II THE PERMANENT LOCATION OF THE SEAT OF 
GOVERNMENT. 

1. CHOOSING THE SITE. 

(1) Probable Reasons for Dissatisfaction with the Location at 
the City of Houston. 

The inconvenience and discomforts suffered by the members of the 
first congress at the adjourned session in the city of Houston, were, 
perhaps, inevitable, springing as they did from the newness of the 
location and the recent removal of the government to that place. 
That these circumstances, however, did not allay but rather foment 
the discontent occasioned by the selection of the city of Houston 
is apparent. This dissatisfaction found expression in the progress 
of the campaign for congressional office during the summer of 1837. 
In the Telegraph for August 9, 1837, appeared a contribution, 
signed "Many Voters" and dated "Houston, August 9, 1837," m 
which the candidates of that district for seats in congress were 
called upon to define their positions upon the "most prominent 
measures upon which they . . • [would] probably be called to 
act— the opening of the land office; the division of the county; the 
location of the seat of government; and the policy of carrying on 
an offensive war with Mexico." 



136 Texas Historical Association Quarterly. 

By the time fixed for the assembling of the second congress, one 
might reasonably have expected to find removed many of the causes 
for complaint that had existed during the adjourned session of the 
first congress. As a matter of fact, however, it seems that those 
who had undertaken to provide buildings for the accommodation 
of congress and the executive departments did little or nothing to 
carry out their promise during the intervening months. Take, for 
instance, the facts as stated by Secretary of the Treasury Henry 
Smith, in his letter of October 1, 1837, addressed to the speaker 
of the house of representatives : 

When the Government officers were removed to this point, the 
proprietors of the Town induced me to believe that I would be fur- 
nished with a good office. On my arrival however, I found that 
none had been provided and I was compelled to occupy a temporary 
shed, as entirely unfit for an office, as it was unsafe for the security 
of books and papers. This great inconvenience I submitted to 
without a murmur, under a promise however, that the evil should 
1)6 remedied in a few weeks. — Months have elapsed, and instead of 
being furnished with the anticipated office 1 am now deprived of the 
temporary shed. I have called on his Excellency the President who 
informed me that I should have a room in the purlieus of the 
Capitol, that the upper rooms were finished and that I was entitled 
to my privilege in choice. On examination however I found the 
rooms all occupied and was informed that the President had no 
(ontrol over them as they were intended for the use of the two 
bouses of Congress, and that the rooms composing the wings of the 
Capitol were intended for the heads of Department. These rooms 
seem to be yet unfinished and in all probability cannot be occupied 
for some time to come. Information on various subjects will be ex- 
pected from this Department by your hon[ora]ble body, which I am 
anxious to lay before you at as early a period as circumstances will 
possibly permit, which however cannot be done until I am pro- 
>-ided with a suitable office. T therefore ask the favor of your 
hon[ora]ble body to co-operate with the other house and, if con- 
sistent, to assign to my Department some suitable room to occupy 
where the business of the office can be properly conducted, and the 
books and papers securely kept.^ 

^Letter filed with Papers of 2 Tex. Conir.. 1 Sess.. :\IS.. State Depart 
ment. 

The petition of the Secretary of the Treasury was <rranted by invitin<i 
liim ''to take possession of one of the three rooms, in tlie second story of 
the Capitol (occupied for committee T-ooms), and appropriate the same to 
the use of the Treasury Department." {House Jmirnril, 2 Tex. Cong., 1 
and 2 Sess., 32.) 



The Seai of Goreniineut of Texas. 187 

Even that part of the Capitol buikling occupied hy congress wa.- 
incomplete in its appointments. Information upon this point is 
supplied by the House ■Journal.^ For instance, scats were ordered 
to be placed in the lobby of tlie house of representatives. Septem- 
ber 30, 1837 ; a sufficient quantity of chairs for the use of the mem- 
bers of the house was ordered October 2o ; the plastering overhead 
in the Hall of Eepresentatives being considered unsafe was ordered 
removed October 19 ; and a stove was ordered October 24. 

Another cause of dissatisfaction may be suggested by the follow- 
ing item from the Telegraph for October 11, 1837 : 

The attention of the mayor and aldermen ... is respect- 
fully called to the muddy condition of the streets on the level, about 
the capitol, and the president's house. The comfort and health of 
the inhabitants and visitors demand that those streets be well 
drained. . . . 

Many Voters. 

A third consideration was that of the healthfulness of the place. 
The Matagorda BuUetin for October 25. 1837, published this para- 
graph : 

Persons recently from Houston state that the city presents rather 
a gloomy appearance and worse in prospect. At the time our in- 
formant left there w^as much sickness, principally fevers — of which 
there liad been cases of yellow conjestive and billions. Every ]ilace 
was said to be crowded, and little or nothing to eat. 

Referring to this same period, a writer in the Telegraph for July 
31, 1839, says : 

It will be recollected by the early citizens of this place that in- 
stances have been known when three or four dead bodies have been 
picked up of a morning in the street, and that sickness and death 
visited almost every family. This, as the general healthiness of the 
place since has proved, was more owing to the exposed situation of 
the inhabitants than the unhealthiness of the climate. 

Whether the foregoing Avere all the reasons, or even the chief 
ones, for dissatisfaction with the city of Houston the evidence 
available does not permit me to affirm. That dissatisfaction did 
exist is plain; and it resulted in efforts to fix the location of the 
seat of government elsewhere and to remove it from Houston before 

Tp. 20-60. passim. 



188 Texas Historical Association Quarterly. 

the expiration of the time designated in the act locating temporarily 
the seat of government at that place. 

{2) The First Commission to Select a Site, October SJf- — Novem.- 

her 20, 1837. 

a. Origin of the Commission Idea. The second congress wouhl 
have assembled in regular session on the first Monday in November, 
1837, but President Houston considered a special session necessary, 
and, accordingly, convened that body to meet September 25, to 
consider the land law and the eastern boundary line questions. 
Congress was in no wise restricted to the consideration of these 
subjects. It was but a few days, therefore, till the seat of gov- 
ermnent question was raised. On September 28, Mr. Rusk offered 
a resolution in the house providing, 

That a committee of three be appointed by the House, to join 
such committee, as may be appointed on the part of the Senate, 
to enquire into the propriety of selecting a site, upon which to locate 
permanently the seat of government of the Republic.^ 

The Senate concurred in the foregoing resolution, and the joint 
committee reported, October 11, through its chairman, Mr. Rusk: 

that such site should be selected forthwith, and five commissioners 
should be chosen by a vote of both Houses, whose duties it shall be 
to select said site, and that they should receive such propositions 
for the sale of land as may be made to them; and to make condi- 
toinal contracts, subject to the ratification or rejection by this Con- 
gress, and that they report by the 15th of November; and that in 
making selections they be confined to the section of country be- 
tween the Trinity and Guadalupe rivers; and that they select no 
place over twenty miles north of the upper San Antonio road, nor 
south of a direct line, running from the Trinity to the Guadalupe 
River, crossing the Brazos at Fort Bend.^ 

On the same day that the foregoing report was made the follow- 
ing contribution, under the caption "Removal of the Seat of Got- 
ernment," appeared in the Telegraph, a newspaper subscribed for 
by both houses of congress:^ 

^House Journal, 2 Tex. Cong.. 1 and 2 Sess., 10. 

^lUd., 38, 39. 

^Ibid., 13; Senate Journal, ihid., 9. 



The Seat of Governuient of Texas. 189 

To the members of Congress: — 

From recent indications, there can be no 
doubt that there is a settled purpose among 3'ou to act upon this 
matter at the present session of congress. As it is a measure of the 
deepest importance, and of no less interest to every citizen of the 
republic, a few suggestions even from a private source may not 
be without some beneficial effect upon your legislative action upon 
the subject. If a proper regard be had in the selection of a beau- 
tiful and eligible site in the upper country, as the permanent seat 
of government, it can doubtless be made the source of bringing a 
large revenue into the treasury, as it may be safely ass\imed that 
the capital of a large empire territory like that of Texas, soon 
destined to be settled with a dense and enterprising population, will 
give importance and interest to any place, and at all times make the 
property valuable; and if early steps are taken in fixing upon the 
location, a sufficient amount may be very soon realized from the 
sale of lots to erect the necessary government buildings, and in 
some sort, even to supply the wants of our suffering navy, a subject 
which at this time so imperiously demands the attention of Con- 
gress. It will he a very easy matter, as the geographical situation 
of the country is well known to you all, to settle \ipon the most 
fit and eligible site nearest the centre of the republic as the perma- 
nent seat of government of the republic. Bastrop is represented as 
having high claims upon the attention of the government, and per- 
haps a better location could not be made, provided there is an entire 
relinquishment of all private interest in the four leagues of land 
which belong to that town. But M^hatever place may be fixed upon, 
the government should by all means, make a reservation of at least 
four or five leagues of land, which could not fail in a few years to be 
rendered immensely valuable. Perhaps the most suitable plan that 
could be adopted for the disposition of the property, would be the 
appointment of five commissioners, well known for their intelli- 
gence, honor and integrity, to be vested with discretionary power 
to lay off the town in blocks of lots of small dimensions, to be de- 
termined among themselves, showing due regard to the situation 
of the capitol, so as to make the property as valuable as possible; 
and after laying off as many of those small lots as could possibly 
be made saleable in three years, by public auction at -stated periods, 
they might then be authorized to lay off lots of ten, twenty, thirty, 
forty and fifty acres, so as to embrace even a half league of land, 
and the remainder of the land reserved might be laid off into farms 
and plantations, and disposed of as congress might at a future time 
determine. If commissioners could be appointed at the present 
session of congress, the first sale might take place as early as the 
Ist of March next, and necessary public buildings might be erected 
so as to be in readiness for the reception of congress at its next 



190 Te.ras Historlni] Association Quarierhj. 

session, should they deteniiine not to hold another session here. 
And should they authorize the reception of treasury drai'ts at the 
sale, it would be the means of taking in a large quantity of that 
paper, which together with the enactment of laws making it receiv- 
able in all government dnes, would immediately give an enhanced 
value to the paper, and in a short time make it good dollar for 
dollar, and made to answer all the purposes of a regular circulat- 
ing medium. So seriously impressed am I, with the conviction that 
if a judicious selection of a site for the permanent seat of govern- 
ment is now made, it cannot fail to attract the attention of capital- 
ists and men of all descriptions of business, and thus be made the 
means of realizing a handsome income to the government, that I 
hope and triist [the subject] will receive the early and considerate 
attention of congress. 

A Citizen. 

h. The Duties of the Commissioners. What tlie duties of rlie 
commissioners were to be was suggested in the report of the joint 
committee and in the article that appeared in the Trlegrafih cited 
above. A joint resolution, embodying the essentials of these recom- 
mendations. ])assed the senate on October 14, was concurred in by 
the house of representatives on the 16th,^ and approved l>y the 
president on the 19th. It read aa follows : 

Eesolved b}^ the senate and house of representatives of the re- 
public of Texas, in CongTCSs assembled, That there shall be elected 
.by joint vote of both houses of congress, five commissioners (any 
three of whom shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of 
business) whose duty it shall be forthwith to proceed to select a site 
for the permanent location of the seat of government of this re- 
public ; and that they be required to give piiblic notice of their ap- 
pointment, and receive such propositions for the sale of lands as 
may be made to them, not less than one, nor more than six leagues 
of land ; and also examine such places as they may think proper 
on vacant lands; and that they be authorized to enter into condi- 
tional contracts for the purchase of such locations as they may 
think proper, subject to ratification or rejection by this congress, 
and that they be required to report to congress, by the 1 oth Novem- 
ber, the different selections, with an accurate and full description 
of the same, to congress, and that in making the selections, they be 
confined to the section of country between the Trinity and Ouad- 
alupe rivers, and that they select no place over one hundred miles 
north of the upper San Antonio road, nor south of a direct line 

"■Senate Journal. 2 Tex. Cono-., 1 and 2 Sess., 20, 22. 



The Seat of Government of Texas. 191 

running from the Trinity to the Giiadahipe river, crossing the 
Brassos at Fort Bend.^ 

The five commissioners provided for by the above resolution were 
elected by joint vote of the two houses on October 24th. Messrs. J. 
A. Greer, John (1. McGehee, Horatio Chriesman, J. W. Bunton, 
and William Seurlock were chosen.- Xone of them was a member 
of congress. 

Would "a direct line running from the Trinity to the Guadalupe 
river, crossing the Brassos at Fort Bend" exclude the city of Hous- 
ton? The writer of the article that appeared in the Telegraph. 
October 11, which was quoted above, as well as the editor of 
the Telegraph in the article that is quoted below treat the subject as 
if the city of Houston was barred from consideration; nor does 
the city of Houston appear as a candidate for the permanent seat 
of government. The editor of the Telegraph, October 14. 1837, 
says: 

Many of the members of congress seem determined to remove tlie 
seat of government from this place immediately. We believe the 
people of Texas have too high a regard for justice, to sanction this 
measure. The public faith we think is in some degree pledged to 
retain the seat of government at Houston until the year 1840. ^lost 
of the citizens who have purchased lots in this city and erected 
l)uildings have considered the act "locating temporarily the seat of 
government" a secure guarantee that their property here would con- 
tinue valuable at least three years. The stability of the contracts 
they have made was wholly based upon that law. We trust there- 
fore that this congress will not be so unjust as rashly to deprive 
these citizens of what they may properly consider — vested rights. 

c. The Report of the Commissioners. The commissioners elected 
to select a site for the permanent seat of government made their 
report November 20, 1837.^ 

To the honorable Senate and House of Eepresentatives : 

Your Commissioners, to select a site for the permanent 
location of the tSeat of Government, beg leave, after the time re- 
quired, to report to your honorable bodies the result of their exam- 
inations. 

^Laics of ihe I'epuhlic of Texa.^ \P<is.'ied the First and Heoond «S'e.ss(a/?,s- of 
Second Congress], 4, .5. 

-House Journal, 2 Tex. Coiif;'.. 1 and 2 Sess., 6.3; Senate Journal, ihld., 
3.3. 

'House Journal, ibid.. 147, 148. 



192 Texas Historical Association Quarterly. 

In doing this your commissioners deem it best to lay before con- 
gress as a part of their report all the propositions which have been 
made, and unnecessary and too tedious [to] go in to a full descrip- 
tion of the different situations contained in said propositions; but 
will only offer a few remarks upon those which in their opinion 
have the highest claims for a suitable site. 

We will first present Bastrop as a site possessing some advantages 
over any other, such as the best of pine and cedar timber, and other 
advantages not surpassed having as good water as any other, being 
located on a navigable stream not more than 110 miles from 
schooner navigation, surrounded by a fine beautiful country, pos- 
sessing a location high, dry, and healthy, and having a tract of 
four leagues appropriated for the town and may be considered pub- 
lic property having a front on the river of one mile and a half, but 
most of tillable land of the first class is claimed by private indi- 
viduals on the front league tho there is some good land on the re- 
mainder. But this town tract is joined by a fine league fronting on 
the river above the town which contains a good portion of first rate 
land and is claimed under an improvement which was made by a 
person who had drawn his headright, but claims it as the head- 
right of another, with public lands Joining the town tract. Could 
the government secure this league it would be very valuable and 
add much to the claims of this place. 

The site at Washington has certainly some claims being situate 
on a navigable stream, about 80 miles from schooner navigation 
and surrounded by a rich and fertile country susceptible of a dense 
population having an abundance of good water possessing a high 
•dry, and healthy location, with a league of land offered on the 
terms proposed in the proposition for that place together with a 25 
acres for a site for the capitol etc. with some lots. 
. The situation on the Mound leagues presents itself very forcibly 
having good water, with an abundance of cedar oak and ash 
timber at a convenient distance from the sight which is on a high 
and beautiful prairie with a fine rich country of lands, situate 
20 miles West of Washington, 22 from the Colorado, and about 130 
from the coast and 90 from schooner navigation. Those three leagues 
in the proposition of J F Perry with 700 acres of H. Chriesraan 
will make about 15 000 acres and is of the first class of farming 
lands, joined by 10 or 12 thousand acres of vacant lands, the great- 
est portion of which is only valuable for its timber, tho there is 
some good farming lands on it, making in all about 25 000 acres, 
and will in the opinion of a majority of your commissioners pro- 
duce a greater revenue than any other situation before your honor- 
able bodies. 

There is a site on the East bank of the Colorado river about 35 



The Seat of Govei-nment of Texa^s. 193 

oi- 40 miles below Bastrop at the Labahia crossing having a fine 
quantity of pine and cedar timber at a moderately conyenient dis- 
tance surrounded by a fine healthy rich country, which ought not 
to be over looked, and your commissioners expected to hare re- 
ceived and handed in a proposition, which will probably be handed 
jn by the persons interested in the site. There is in a short dis- 
tance of the last mentioned place a large quantity of vacant lands. 

The sites of San Felipe and Gonzales each having originally four 
leagues appropriated which may be considered public property have 
not been over looked, but neither of them being central and in want 
of good timber do not come imder the class having the strongest 
claims. 

Nashville, Tenoxticlan, the falls of the Brazos, and the situation 
[reprejsented by Henry Austin on the West bank of the Colorado 
possessing some advantages, do not come under the first class. 

A proposition pointing out a site in the neighborhood of the 
Sulphur Springs, JSTorth East of Washington, having good water 
and timber with a large quantity of vacant lands in its vicinity is 
expected and may be handed in. 

The difficulty of seeing and hearing from persons owning lands 
in the vicinity of the different situations has rendered it impos- 
sible in the time given, to place any proposition fairly before the 
honorable congress; and your commissioners have no doubt that 
much more advantageous certain and liberal propositions could have 
been had if a longer time had been given and this important matter 
would have been in a much better condition for the action of con- 
gress. 

J. A. Greer 
John G. McGehee 
Horatio Chriesman 
J. W. Bunton 
William Scurlock 

Commissioners 

Houston, Nov. 20, 1837.i 

"^Seat of Government Papers, MS, in State Library. Following is a sum- 
mary of the propositions accompanying the report: 

Bastrop. — October 21, 1837, the people of Bastrop instructed their sen- 
ator and representatives in congress to relinquish to the government the 
unappropriated part of the town tract containing about three leagues and 
three quarters, and to transfer all moneys due on the sale of the town 
lots heretofore made, amounting to about $7000. November 20, 1837, the 
citizens of Mina county authorized John G. McGehee to pledge in addi- 
tion to the foregoing two and one-fourth leagues of land, or five thousand 
dollars. 

Washington. — November 15, 1837, the Washington Town company made 
the following offer, which because of its importance is here given in full: 

"At a meeting of the proprietors of the Town of Washington held on 
the 15th of November A D 1837 on motion of John W Hall it was unani- 



194 Texas Historica] Association Quarterly. 

This report was referred to a select joint committee, composed of 
live members from eacli house J 

The preference manifested for central, and even western Texas, 
as the proper place for the permanent location of the seat of gov- 
ernment is noteworthy. It is, therefore, the more remarkable to 
find the following protest against the contemplated action of con- 
gress : 

I have just reached this place from the far west where I reside 
and where it is difficult for myself and neighbors to acquire infor- 
mation in relation to the political operations of this government. 
It would be useless for me here to state that the citizens of the west 
liave been the greatest sufferers in the war betwen Texas and Mex- 
ico. . . . Our only hope was in the protection of a munificent 
and just government, ... I find instead of an eye to the in- 
terest of all, that local feelings and prejudices prevail, and at a 
time when the whole west is to a considerable extent depopulated. 

mously resolved that Asa Hoxey president of the board of proprietors he 
fully authorized to make to the commissioners (appointed by Congress for 
the purpose of loeating the Seat of rTOvernmeut) such propositions as he 
in his judgment mav think best to secure the Seat of Government in said 
Town 

"To Capt Criesman, Col Buntin. Capt Skerlock. John ^McGee and J. A. 
Greer Esqrs. 

''Gentlemen 
"Under and by virtue of the resolution of the proprietors of the Town of 
Washington and above set forth, I M-ouId beg leave to make the following 
jpToposition Avith the view of getting the Seat of Government located in 
the Town of Washington viz I feel niyself fully authorized by virtue of 
the resolution of the proprietors of tiie Town aforesaid and hereunto ap- 
pended and do hereby propose to the Government through you to execute 
to the Government good and sufficient titles to one League of Land con- 
tiguous to the ToAvn of Washington, for which you or the Government or 
any person or persons authorized by said Government may affix the price 
or value and the terms on which the payments shall be made, One-half 
of the Land thus offered is situated on the East side of the Brazos river 
and separated from said Town only by said river and is as is well known 
to you of the most valuable description both for its timber and for farm- 
ing purposes, the otlier lialf is immediately adjoining said Town and from 
that circumstance renders it equally if not more valuable than the other 
half. It is further proposed to allow the Government (and the proprie- 
tors will execute good and sufficient titles to the same) any number of 
lots requisite for the purpose of erecting the capitol and a sufficient num- 
ber of buildings for the officers of Government to be selected from any of 
the undisposed lots in said Town to be entirely gratuitous and without 
charge to the Government. It Avill be recollected that you were pleased 
with what you supposed to be an eligible site on John w' Halls Land (ad- 
joining the Towiii tract) for the Capitol and the necessary buildings for 
the officers of Government, I am fully authorized by Capt Hall to say 

'House Joiirnol 2 Tex. Cong., 1 and 2 Sess.. 147, 149. 



The Scat of Govemment of Texas. 195 

we find members of congress attempting to entail the west a seat 
of government forever. Would it not be well for the gentlemen to 
reflect upon the probaljlo result of such a measure? Would not the 
west in after days deny the right to thus bind them, and if the seat • 
of govermnent should be located and individuals invest in purchas- 
ing property, and a subsequent congress choose to remove the seat 
of government, ^vould it not have a tendency to destroy faith? 1 
trust that members of congress will consider maturely before they 
legislate to the prejudice of every part of this community. I do 
not object to moving the seat of government, hut I do most sin- 
cerely object to any pledge on the part of this government that the 
seat of government shall remain at any place forever. First, be- 
cause it is unjust in its operation — secondly, because I do not think 
that congress has the right to do so. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

A Western Citizen. 
Houston, Xovember 23rd, 183 T.^ 

that if you or the Governnient prefer that situation to- any other within 
the corporate limits of said Town that it is at the disposal of Government 
free from all charge and that Capt Hall is ready to execute to the Gov- 
ernment [a deed] to a sufficient quantity of Land to meet the wants of 
Government as above set forth, 1 wish it to be distinctly understood that 
tliis proposition is made expressly witli the view to the capitol being 
erected either within the corporate limits of said Town or on the land of 
the said John W Hall above referred to and which if not acceded to by the 
Government then this proposition is to be regarded as not having been 
made and is to be withdrawn In making this proposition permit me most 
respectfully to suggest to the Government through you the many advan- 
tages that would accrue to the Government should this proposition be ac- 
ceded to and the Seat of Government be located in the Town of Washing- 
ton. I take it for granted that in selecting a suitable situation, due re- 
gard is to be had to the healtli of the location, tlie capabiliy of the con- 
tiguous country supporting the Town by its own product, so that in case of 
exigency it may be independent of foreign supplys. the geograpliical centre 
of the eountry. the means of communication with the coast and the fron- 
tier settlements, the safety from invasion by the enemy and of a conse- 
quence the safety of tlie public documents, its contiguity to a navigable 
stream, the facilities of building and a variety of other considerations 
which will naturally suggest themselves to you. 

'"I would with proper deference to your judgment suggest that the Town 
of Washington presents all the advantages herein enumerated In the 
first place, it affords an al)un(lance of good well and spring water and 
contains a population of about Four Inuidred inhabitants, it was laid out 
as a tov.n in the Spring of 183.5 and there have been but fifteen persons 
buried in the Town during all that time not one of whom died with fever, 
and for tlie trutli of this assertion I refer you to the statement of Dr. 
William S. [the actual signature shows P. instead of S.] Smith here- 
unto appended In the second place, you must be perfectly satisfied 
from your own observation that there is no County in the Republic 
tliat will admit of more close farming than Washington and that 

'Teleqraph. December 6, 1837. 



196 Texas Historical Association Quarterly. 

(3) Thfi Second Commission to Select a Site, December 14, 1837, 
to April IJ,., 1838. 

a. Creation and Personnel of the New Commission. The joint 
select committee, to which had been referred the report of 
the first commission, reported on ISTovember 28, 1837, that 

they had had the subject under consideration, and had come to the 
determination to recommend that a joint committee of both houses 
be appointed to visit, in the recess of Congress, the different places 
proposed for the seat of government, and other places, as may be 
proposed, and report fully thereon in the early part of the first 
meeting of Congress after the adjournment.^ 

Accordingly, the following joint resolution was passed bj con- 
gress and approved by President Houston : 

there ia no section of the Republic populating so fast or yielding 
more rapidly to the industry of the farmer which is abundantly shewn 
not only by your own observation but by the vote taken at the last elec- 
tion for members of Congress, which I think was the largest taken in any 
County of the Republic, In the third place you will be easily convinced 
by reference to the Map of the Country that Washington is the most cen- 
tral point of the now inhabited part of the Re-public or that will be popu- 
lated for a long time to come In the fourth place, communicatioins can be 
received at Washington in Twenty-four hours from the coast, and in Forty- 
eight hours from the remotest frontier settlements, The fifth proposition 
[as to safety from invasion ; see latter part of preceding paragraph] 
I pass over as self-evident. In the sixth place, Washington is beautifully 
situated on the right bank of the Brazos river opposite to the mouth of 
the Navisota and is evidently at the head of navigation (there being a 
series of obstacles in the river beginning a few miles above the Town). It 
is true that no Steam Boat has as yet ascended the river as far as Wash- 
ington, but I am induced to believe from what information I have been 
able to collect and from what has come under my o^vn immediate obser- 
vation that it has been owing more to the perturbed situation of the Coun- 
try than from any obstacle to [be] met with in the river and think that I 
may with safety and confidence state that Avhen the Country becomes more 
tranquil the enterprise of her citizens will overcome the difficulties (if 
there be any) in navigating the river and that the day is near at hand 
when the communication by Steam Boat navigation between the Town of 
Washington and the mouth of the river will be certain and direct. In the 
seventh place, there is now being erected in the Town two good Saw Mills 
and the adjacent country affords an abundance of suitable building tim- 
ber and there is now in full operation a large brick yard and I am in- 
formed that stone lime in any quantity can be procured a few miles up 
the river, and in the immediate vicinity of the Town may be had a vast 
quantity of fine sand stone suitable either for chimneys or buildings, thus 
affording all the facilities of building. 

"With these few observations I respectfully submit this proposition for 
your consideration, with the full assurance that you will do that which 

'House Journal, 2 Tex. Cong., 1 and 2 Sess.. 192. 



The Seal of Government of Texas. 197 

Sec. 1. Resolved, By the senate and house of representatiyes of 
the republic of Texas, in congress assembled, That they vrill ele(?t 
a joint committee of five, two from the senate and three from the 
house of representatives, to be elected by their different houses, to 
whom shall be referred all propositions for the location of a per- 
manent seat of government, that the said committee be instructed 
forthwith after the adjournment of congress, to repair to that sec- 
tion of country in which it is proposed to locate the seat of gov- 
ernment, and examine, and make plots of the different places pro- 
posed as proper for the seat of government, and to visit and examine 
such other places as may be proposed for the seat of goremment, 
and prepare plots and descriptions of all such place [s] vrith the 
conditions on which they can be had by the government, and report 
thereon on the first Monday of the next meeting of congress. 

in your best judgment will bring about the end for which you were ap- 
pointed 

"Respectfully, 
"Your obt. Servt 

"Asa Hoxey 
"President Washington Company 

"Washington 15 Nov 1837" 

Mound League. — November 14, 1837, James F Perry offered to sell to 
the government the INIound league and adjoining leagues at $1.50 cash per 
acre. November 20, 1837, Horatio Chriesman offered to donate four labors 
of land adjoining the Mound league. (Old Gay Hill in Washington county 
was located on the Mound League.) 

Nashville. — November 20, 1837, T. J. Chambers offered to relinquisli 
tluee-quarters of a league and half the town lots of Nashville, on condi- 
tion that he be permitted to locate an equal quantity of land elsewhere. 
S. C. Robertson offered to relinquish one-half league just below Chambers' 
land on similar terms. Mr. Thompson offered to relinquish one-half of the 
league just below Robertson's on similar terms. Mr. Chambers suggested 
the name of "Texia" for the seat of government. 

Tenoxtitlan. — R. Barr offered to relinquish one-half of the league on 
which Tenoxtitlan is situated, — also two leagues of land lying on the west 
side of the Brazos at the mouth of Cow Bayou. 

Falls of the Brazos. — T. J. Chambers offered to relinquish one league of 
land adjoining the town tract. 

Henry Austin offered to pla«e at the disposal of the government five 
leagues of land fronting on the west bank of the Colorado River, 8 miles 
above Columbus, on condition that the seat of government remain there 
from 1840 till 1850 and that he receive about forty-five per cent of the 
proceeds of the sales of all lots. 

Sulphur Springs. — Situate 15 miles N. E. of Washington, 32 milee S. W. 
of Cincinnati, and 62 miles N. W. of Houston. J. 6. Black and others 
offered 5500 acres of land. 

J. H. Money offered to donate 1666 acres of land situate on the head 
waters of the New Years creek, on condtion that the seat of government be 
located on the said 1666 acres. 

F. Niebling and — Gregg (the name not clearly written) offered to 
relinquish certain portions of their land fronting on the Colorado river, 
provided they were permitted to select like quantities elsewhere. 



198 Texas Historical Association Quarterly. 

Sec. 2. And he- it further resolved. That said committee, shall 
receive the same pay as if in actual session of congress, for the time 
they are serving on said committee,^ and they are hereby instructed 
to. make contracts on the most favorable terms they can. snl)JGct in 
all cases to the ratification or rejection of congress. 

Sec. 3. And he it further resolved, That the said committee 
shall have power to make reservation of all vacant lands which may 
be situated within nine miles of any point which the committee may 
think proper to designate as suitable locations for the seat of gov- 
ernment, and due notice or said reservation shall be forthwith given 
in at least three public newspapers, and no county surveyor shall 
survey any land in the said reservation, until after said reservation 
shall be relinquished by congress; Provided, that it shall not be 
lawful for said committee, to make such reservations in more than 
five dift'erent places.- 

The recommendation of the joint select committee and the action 
of congress in adopting this recommendation harmonize with the 
opinion of the members of tlie first commission. They stated in 
the concluding paragraph of their report that they were confident 
that "much more advantageous certain and liberal propositions 
could have been had if a longer time had been given." The joint 
resolution, in a certain sense, therefore, is simply an extension of 
time granted the commissioners. fJowever, a new commission com- 
posed of five members of congress was selected to continue the 
work ; more explicit directions were given to guide them in the per- 
formance of their task ; and greater precautions were taken to safe- 
guard the public interest. There was no change in the limits of 
the territory to which the commissioners Avere restricted. 

Patrick C. Jack of Brazoria, George Sutherland of Jackson, and 
P. 0. Lumpkin of Houston county, were selected by the house of rep- 
resentatives ; and G. W. Barnett of Washington and EmoiT Eaines 
of Shelby and Sabine were chosen by the senate'^ as members of the 
joint committee of five. Congress adjourned December 19, 1837, 
to meet on tbe second Monday in April following. 

^This congress also passed a Joint resolution, granting the members of 
the first commission five dollars per day while in the discharge of that 
duty. — Laics of the liepuhlic of Texas [Passed at First and Second Sessimts 
of Second. Congress], 41. 

-Laws of the Republic of Texas [Passed a I First and Second Sessions of 
Second Cont/ress'], 60. (il. 

^Ffou.^e Jotirnal, 2 Tex. Cong.. 1 and 2 Sess., 285. 



The Seat of Government of Texas. 199 

h. Report of ilie Commissioners. The act of congress creating 
the second commission provides that "said committee be instructed 
forthwith after the adjournment of congress, to repair to that sec- 
tion of country in which it is proposed to locate the seat of govern- 
ment, and examine, and make plots of the different places proposed 
as proper for the seat of government." The commissioners may 
have proceeded forthwith, but the following notice suggests that 
a much more leisurely mode of procedure was adopted: 

The commissioners appointed by congress to examine and report 
to the next extra session a suitable place for the permanent loca- 
tion of the seat of government in pursuance of their duties, will 
meet at John H. Moore's on the Colorado, on the first Monday in 
March next, whence they will proceed to examine such sites as may 
be deemed eligible, and receive proposals for the same. In the 
meantime, either of the commissioners is authorized to receive writ- 
ten proposals, and submit the same to the board upon their meet- 
ing. 

By order of the board, 

Pat. C. Jack, Chairman. 

January 31, 1838.^ 

Assuming that the commissioners met at J. H. Moore's, La 
Grange, on the first Monday in March, which was the 5th of the 
month, they spent comparatively little time in further investigation 
before coming to a final decision, for on the 8th of March they 
concluded a tentative contract with John Eblin for the purchase 
of his league of land, which bordered John H. Moore's on the 
south. On the same day the commissioners reserved to the govern- 
ment all the vacant lands lying within a radius of nine miles of a 
point near the western boundary of Eblin's League. Whether they 
visited any other points after this, the records at hand do not show. 

The adjourned session of the second congress convened at Hous- 
ton, April 9, 1838. On the 14th, Mr. Sutherland of the joint com- 
mittee made a report, accompanying the same with sundry docu- 
ments.^ Only those parts of the report relating to Groce's Es- 
treat, Colorado City, and Eblin's League have been found. The 
last, which is very much the longest, is as follows : 

'Telegraph, February 10, 1838. 

^House Journal, 2 Tex. Cong., 3 Sess., 14. 



200 Texas Historiccil Association Quarterly. 

Aprile 15th 1838 

The Commissioners to whome by Congress was assigned the duty 
of examining and repoarting on the various plac[e]s proposed for 
the permane[n]t location of the site of Government of the Eepub- 
lic of Texas. 

beg leave to represent that after much labour being bestowed, the[y] 
make the following exhibit in the order of their review. 
A^iz. Bough [t]^ of John Eblin one League of land situate on the 
east side of Colerado Eiver, fronting one and a half miles on said 
River, below the tract on which the Town of Legrange is situate. 
This League has a high commanding bluff Bank for a mile and a 
quarter, far above high watter marks, running back with a rich dry, 
smothe pierara, one mile to the poastoak lands gradually rising 
throughout, through this survey runs diagonally a Creek of pure 
and never failing watter. on the Survey are four permane[n]t 
Springs, with a fare stand of timber oak cedar etc. the whole of this 
Tract will do for building purposes. Also one other League of land 
fronting one and a half miles on the west bank of said Eiver and di- 
rectly opposite the front of the Eblin League from Judge Evins 
and Majr Brookfield the front of this Survey is perhaps eighty 

feet ahove the level of the high lands on the east side, about the 
center of tliis survey rises an interesting spring running down a 
decent, or arm of the bluff to the river, forming a passway to and 
from without difficulty, thus affording perhaps the best place for a 
bridge on the Eiver, taking into view the banks timbers and in- 
exhaustable stock of building Eock. three quarters of a mile back 
com.mences a high smoth timbered plane nmning back six miles 
in all. the extreme west end has some small groves and small 
prairies interspersed, on this 'survey there are three other springs 
said to be permanent, all of which rise seventy or perhaps eighty 
feet above the lands alluded to thus affording by the construction 
of a bridge great facilities for water privileges, this Survey 
has a great stand of timber oak cedar etc. etc. both of 
which tracts are obtained on the terms contained in the accom- 
panying documents, here submitted, contiguous to this survey is 
a donation from Thomas H. Boarden for one quarter of a League 
of land, connected with the two last mentioned Surveys West and 
Southwest and within nine miles of the center of the Eblin Tract, 
are three Leagues or perhaps more of excellent vacant soil but 

^The purchase contract bears date of March 8. 1S.S8. Seat of Govern- 
ment Papers, MS. 



The Seat of Government of Texas. 



201 




commissioners' plat of eblin's league and the lands adjoining. 

The circle has a radius of nine miles. The original is in manuscript, 
and about nine inches in diameter. The above reprod|Uction is from a 
tracing, except the lettering which in the original is script. 



202 Texas Historical Association Quarterly. 

scarce of timber all of which we have reserved for the Government^ 
agreeable to the Eesolution in that case made and provided, on the 
East side of the Colerado Kiver and in Rabs pinery the three Eabs 
donate to the Government one half of a League of land, with a 
valuable stand of pine oak Cedar etc. East and South of this survey 
and adjoining we have reserved perhaps a League of land with 
good timbers, connected with the north end of Eblins Survey. 

Jesse H. Cartwright donates to the Government one fourth of a 
League of land good soil and poastoak timber. John H. Moore do- 
nates to the Government ^on the north boundaryline of the 
Eblin tract with good timber, the connexion of wliich surveys will 
be seen by refference to the accompanying platt.^ in Sigh[t] of this 
place is a chalk bluff said to be of excellent quality, near this is 
a fine coal pitt, the facility of getting supplies from above by 
means of the Eiver need no comment. East and South of this place 
between the Brazos and Colerado Elvers embracing their tributaries, 
is a country in point of soil grandeur of situations, supply of never 
failing springs and many farms in a high state of cultivation with 
tolerable timbers, that but few countryes on Earth can compare 
with. West so far as San Antonio and farther, the soil and watter 
are not to be surpassed, the timber tolerable, through all this 
country the prospect for health appears verry good. 

G."^ W. Barnett 
P. 0. Lumpkin 
George Sutherland* 

c. Report of the Joint Committee. This report, together with 
the accompanying documents, was referred to a joint committee. 
This joint committee was authorized to receive further propositions 
relative to the permanent location of the seat of government, and 
was instructed to report by bill or otherwise.-"^ The committee made 
the following report: — 

The Select Joint Committee, to whom were referred all the docu- 
ments in the nature of propositions from different sections of the 
country, relating to the removal and location of the Seat of Govern- 
ment, have had the same under consideration; and after compar- 
ing all the documents which have come to their hands, your Com- 
mittee, deeming it to be improper for them to express any opinion 
to the advantage or disadvantage of any proposition which has 

^See 'order of the commissioners to the county surveyor of Fayette 
county, dated March 8, 1838. Seat of Government Papers, MS. 
'Blank left for amount of land. 
'See plat, p. 201. 
*Seat of Government Papers, MS. 
'^House Journal, 2 Tex. Cong., 3 Sess., 16, 35; Senate Journal, ibid., 15. 



The Seat of Government of Texas. 203 

come before them, have, in consequence, thoiight proper to condense 
as much as practicable the different propositions, which are as fol- 
lows: 

Then come several propositions which are here summarized : 

A donation of land aggregating 18,015 acres and lying within a 
radius of thirty miles was offered to the government by those rep- 
resenting the site of Comanche, on the Colorado, eighteen miles 
above Bastrop. 

A donation of 9,510 acres of land was offered the government by 
those advocating the selection of Groce's Retreat. 

In addition to the 8,888 acres embraced in Eblin's and in Brook- 
field and Evans's leagues, which had been purchased by the com- 
missioners, 28,475 acres, lying within a radius of nine miles of the 
west end of Eblin's league, were offered to the government as a 
donation.^ 

Henry Austin offered the government a donation of nearly 11,- 
110 acres as an inducement to locate the seat of government on his 
lands on the Colorado.^ 

Certain proprietors of lands at Nashville offered to exchange the 
greater portion of three leagues lying at that place for lands located 
elsewhere in case Nashville should be selected as the seat of govern- 
ment. 

A donation of 8,800 acres of land near the site of Sulphur 
Springs was offered the government for seat of government pur- 
poses.^ 

The promoters of Colorado City, located two miles above La 
Grange, offered the government a half interest in the lots and town 
tract, which contained upwards of 4,000 acres. 

Those interested in the site of Richmond offered the government 
half the town tract, which contained 600 acres, and two leagues of 
land in the immediate vicinity. 

A total of 44,631 acres of land, including four leagues vacant 
land and the towoi tract, was offered the government by those favor- 
ing the site at Bastrop.* 

^Four leagues of this were vacant land, belonging to the Republic. 
^For location of Austin's lands, see p. 197^ note. 
"For location of Sulphur Springs, see ibid. 
*Seat of Government Pampers, Printed Report. 



204 



Texas Historical Association Quarterly. 



Several propositions were made too late to be included in the above 
report; they were as follows: 

1. Henry Austin offered to donate one-half of the proceeds of the in 
and out lots of Central City, situated on the left bank of the Naviasota 
River, five miles above its confluence with the Brazos. 

2. Briscoe and Hall offered to donate one league of land as a site for 
the seat of jsjovernment out of the six leagues lying midway between the 
San Jacinto and Trinity Rivers and immediately west of the Long King's 
crossing over the Trinity. 

.3. James F. Perry offered to sell 3 leagues and 8 labors, including the 
Mound league, at $2 per acre; also one-half league of land on the Colo- 
rado just below Bastrop at $5 per acre. 

A comparison of the foregoing report with that of ISTovember 20, 
1837, exhibits a remarkable growth in the number and strength of 
the applications for the seat of government from places located on 
the Colorado Eiver over those from places situated on or near the 
Brazos Eiver. In 1837 seven places on or near the Brazos Eiver 
were mentioned in the report of the commissioners, while onl}^ three 
on the Colorado received notice. In the above report only four 
places on or near the Brazos receive mention, while five located on 
the Colorado are named. Most remarkable is the fact that Wash- 
ington, the strongest candidate on the Brazos, drops out entirely. 

d. Ellin's League Selected by Congress as the Site for the Loca^ 
tion of the Seat of Government. Two days after the receipt of the 
report the two houses of congress met in joint session for the pur- 
pose .of selecting "a site for the permanent location of the seat of 
government.'^^ 

The vote was taken viva voce, and may be tabulated as follows :^ 



Name of place. 



Nashville 

Eblin's League... 

Black's Place 

Bastrop 

San Felipe 

Nacogdoches 

Comanche '.. 

Mound League... 

Richmond 

Washington 

Groce's Retreat. 
San Antonio 



First ballot. 



Second ballot. 



^Eouse Journal, 2 Tex. Cong., 3 Sess., May 9, 1838, pp. 97, 98; Senate 
Journal, ihid., 52, 53. 
^The House Journal gives the name of each voter for the several places. 



The Seat of Government of Texas. 205 

Eblin's League received a majority of the votes ; the speaker of the 
house of representatives, therefore, announced that it was duly 
chosen as the site for the future location of the seat of government. 
It will be noted that the majority for Eblin's League was much 
larger than that l^y which the city of Houston was selected for the 
temporary capital.^ 

Very little has been found that would indicate the feeling with 
which the selection of Eblin's League was received by the people; 
the President's veto perhaps killed the bill too soon to leave much 
time for comment. Some expressions that have been discovered are 
as follows : 

On Monday last, both houses of Congress met for the purpose of 
selecting a site for the permanent location of the Seat of Govern- 
ment, and on the second ballot, decided in favor of Eblin's League, 
on the Colorado river, near La Grange, in the county of Fayette. 
This is the site selected and recommended by the commissioners 
appointed by Congress. — National Banner, [Houston.] 

Our readers will perceive by the above extract that the Seat of 
Government has been located upon the Colorado Kiver. We com- 
mend the wisdom of Congress in approving the site selected by the 
commissioners. The Colorado is one of the finest streams in Texas, 
and navigable almost to the mountains. In addition to the superior 
quality of its lands, it runs through the very heart and centre of 
the Republic.^ 

The result of the vote above was embodied in a bill for the per- 
manent location of the seat of government. The bill has not been 
found. The following are some of the facts in regard to it gathered 
from the journals :^ the name of the site selected was to be Austin ; 
of the twelve squares reserved for the government, one was in- 
tended for the University; and the seat of government was not to 
be removed from Houston until 1840. An unsuccessful effort was 
made to add a section to the bill providing 

that this act shall not go into operation in any of its parts until 
after the same shall have been submitted to the people of Texas, at 
the next general election, for their ratification or approval. 

e. President Houston Vetoes the Bill Selecting Ehlin's League. 

^The Quarterly. X 165. 
^Matagorda Bulletin, Mav 17, 1838. 

^House Journal, 2 Tex. Cong., 3 Sess., 105, 108. 109. 113, 133 and 137; 
Senate Journal, ibid., 64, 68, 69, 72, and 73. 



206 Texas Historical Association Quarterly. 

On May 22, the president vetoed the bill, stating his objections in 
the following message: 

The act locating the seat of government has been submitted to 
the Executive, who has taken a calm and dispassionate view of the 
subject. It will be perceived by the law fixing temporarily the 
seat of government, that it shall be established at the town of Hous- 
ton, on Buffalo Bayou, until the end of the session of congress, 
which shall assemble in the year one thousand eight hundred and 
forty: This would clearly require that at least two elections must 
take place for members of the house of representatives, and two 
thirds of the senators will be renewed previous to that time. If 
these are truths, then it would seem that the law had contemplated 
the action of the members who, at that time representing Texas as 
the persons who were to act for the emergency of the time. Many 
changes must take place in the population and condition of Texas 
previous to the year 1840, and by that time the people would have 
an opportunity to give some expression of their wishes and opin- 
ions on the subject, if it were submitted to them. Were the pres- 
ent congress to pass a law fixing the seat of government at any 
one point, the Executive believes that either of the two next suc- 
ceeding congresses would have it in their power to repeal the law 
and commence anew. This act of the honorable congress contem- 
plates the expenditure of a larger portion of the public treasure 
than the Executive would be willing to see subtracted from the 
treasury at this time: our resources do not seem to justify any 
course but that of the strictest economy in the government, and 
this bill would doubtless consume at least one eighth part of the 
revenue for the current year, while it would leave the subject liable 
to the action of a subsequent congress; and should the .subject be 
presented to the people, and then their expression ratified by an act 
of the government, it would be permanently established beyond all 
ground of doubt or cavil. 

Being satisfied of the inexpediency of the measure at this time, 
the Executive feels himself constrained to return the bill with his 
reason for not giving his signature to the same.^ 

The house of representatives sustained the veto.^ The veto mes- 
sage was received so late in the session of congress that, according 
to the rules of this body, no new business could be introduced with- 
out the consent of two-thirds of the members present. Two efforts 
were made to suspend this rule; both failed, but the measures 
which it was attempted to bring before the house were spread upon 

^House Journal, 2 Tex. Cong.. 3 Sess., 162, 163. 
Ubid., 168. 



The Seat of Government of Texas. 207 

the journals. Mr. Jones, of Brazoria, proposed a bill providing that 
the president issue his proclamation ''to cause the sense of the peo- 
ple to be taken on the subject of locating the seat of government at 
tlie city of Austin, the place selected by the committee appointed 
by congress for that purpose'^ so that the next congress might act 
definitely and finally on the subject of the permanent location of 
the seat of government, and that "all the contracts or reservations 
made by the said committee be, and they are hereby confirmed, and 
the sum of $6,000 appropriated for that purpose, and placed at the 
disposal of said committee."^ The bill proposed by Mr. Rusk pro- 
vided for the appointment by congress of three commissioners who 
were to select not less than two nor more than four places for the 
permanent location of the seat of government; one of said places 
to be east, the other west of the Brazos river ; each place to contain 
not less than four miles square of land, and more if convenient. 
Said commissioners were to begin work on July 15th next, make 
provisional contracts, and publish in the newspapers a description 
of each place selected. The president was to issue his proclamation, 
directing the voters to designate the place of their choice at the 
next election. The returns were to be sent in triplicate to the 
secretary of state, speaker of the house, and president of the senate, 
and congress was to open and count the vote and declare the place 
having the highest number the permanent seat of government of 
the Eepublic of Texas.^ 

(^) The Third Commission to Select a Site, January IJf. — A'pril 

13, 1839. 

a. The Question of Locating the Seat of Government an Issue 
in the Campaign of 1888. The interest centering around the ques- 
tion of the location of the seat of government during the closing 
days of the session of congress was by the adjournment of that 
body on May 24, 1838, transferred to the newspapers and the 
stump: for an election of all the representatives, of one-third the 

^Eouse Journal, 2 Tex. Cong., 3 Sess., 170. 

'^Ihid., 167, 168. For a denunciation of the president's veto of the bill 
designating Eblin's League as the site of the location of the seat of gov- 
ernment, see the presentment of the grand jurv of Fayette county, dated 
October 25, 1839. (Lotto, Fayette Comity, 176.) 



208 Texas Historical Association Quarterly. 

senators, and of a president and vice-president was to be held on 
the first Monday in September. It was the first full fledged national 
campaign witnessed in Texas. In it there was much that did not 
rise above mere personalities ; yet the best interests of the Republic 
were not overlooked; a rough platform was constructed which pro- 
vided remedies for such measures as had proved unpopular and 
outlined a policy for the upbuilding of Texas in the future. The 
location of the seat of government west of the Brazos was one of 
the planks of this platform.^ 

It will have been noted that thus far the financial phase of the 
seat of government question has been most prominent. At Houston 
the government was obliged to pay a rental of $5,000 a year for 
the building occupied. By a judicious selection of some point in 
the interior, it was anticipated that the government would not only 
realize sufficient sums from the sale of lots to erect buildings for its 
own use, but also that at the same time other and more important 
benefits would accrue to the Republic. For example, T. Jefferson 
Chambers, in his proposition of Nashville or the Falls of the 
Brazos, represented that such point should be chosen as was "most 
convenient to the whole Republic on account of its centrality, both 
with regard to its population and territorial limits, and which 
will also extend and protect our frontier by the population that will 
be naturally attributed to the capital and its neighborhood."- 

It was up the valleys of the Brazos and of the Colorado that popu- 
lation was now beginning to spread rapidly. The Telegraph for 
January 13, 1838, reports that 

A gentleman who lately arrived from Bastrop, states that im- 
mense numbers of emigrants are constantly arriving in that sec- 
tion. He believes that three quarters of the present settlers of the 
county have arrived since August last. 

And the editor of the Matagorda Bulletin states in his paper for 
March 7, 1888, that 

Several of our citizens have just returned from the up-country 
and the far West, where they have been engaged since the opening 
of the land office, in locating their lands. They bring the most flat- 
tering accounts of the emigration which is now pouring into the 

^Mataf/crda Bulletin, August 9, 1838. 
^Seat of Government Papers, MS. 



The Seat of Government of Texas. 209 

interior, with a rapidity altogether imparalleled in tlie settlement 
of the countr3^ The new comers we understand are nearly all farm- 
ers, and are now making extensive preparations to cultivate the 
soil. The Colorado, up to the base of the mountains, is alive with 
the opening of new plantations, and towns and villages seem to be 
springing up spontaneously along its banks. 

Surely this intelligence must be gladdening to the heart of every 
true and patriotic Texian. To accelerate our already unexampled 
progress in the high road to prosperity, we desire nothing more 
than a hardy, industrious and agricultural population : . . . 
they are the very hachhone of a nation. . . 

Fear that the current of immigration might be checked had its 
origin in part in the hostile attitude of Mexico and to a greater 
extent in the hostility of the Indians along the frontier. 
"Houston had pursued with the Indians a policy of con- 
ciliation, but toward the end of his term, when settlers 
began to push westward, conflicts became frequent, and cow- 
ardly massacres were of common occurrence. As a resut, popula- 
tion was still practically restricted to the territory east of the San 
Antonio road, and while as yet this section was in no danger of 
strangulation from over-crowding, measures looking toward expan- 
sion do not appear to have been unwise. Lamar's aggressiveness 
was but the natural reaction against Houston's long-suffering for- 
bearance."^ Eather Lamar's so-called aggressiveness was an at- 
tempt to extend to the frontier that degree of protection which 
would render those regions safe and make them attractive to the 
immigrant. 

The strength of candidates in the West depended upon their 
favorable attitude toward the subjects of immigration and frontier 
protection. In advocating the election of M. B. Lamar, the Mata- 
gorda Bulletin for March 28, 1838, says 

But above all, the character and qualifications of the next chief 
magistrate of the Eepublic of Texas, should be extensively and 
favourahly known, to the people of the United States. Emigration, 
which is so earnestly and ardently desired by every good and pa- 
triotic citizen, and which alone can hasten the rising greatness of 
this flourishing repul:ilic. will be checked or promoted by the char- 
acter of the man whom we shall elevate to that distinguished office. 

^University of Texas Record, V 153, 1.54. 



210 Texas Historical Association Quarterly. 

And a correspondent of the same paper, writes, in the issue for 
August 24, 1838, of George Sutherland, candidate from Matagorda 
for the senate: 

He is truly Western in his feelings as well as interest, and there- 
fore, when brought to the test in any great measure, in which the 
West would be concerned, we would know where to find him and 
what to depend upon-^f or instance, the location of the seat of gov- 
ernment, and we know that this great question will come up, and 
be finally disposed of during the next three years. He has no inter- 
est in the East, to paralize his influence and to cool his zeal; his 
entire interest is West of the Colorado — he was not barely "de- 
sirous" to locate the seat of government on the Colorado; and did 
not manifest a simple anxiety for that location, as has been said of 
others. But he was most zealous and active during the last session 
of Congress in obtaining the location of the seat of government at 
La Grange. To no one member, more than to George Sutherland 
could be attributed the success which the Western members had in 
that measure. . . . The Seat of Government will be perma- 
nently located during the next two years; and no measure can be 
so big with consequences to the West, and particularly to the citi- 
zens of this Senatorial District as its location on the Colorado. It 
will promote emigration to the West, thereby giving protection to 
the frontier settlements, and enhancing the value of our lands. It 
will also increase most rapidly the settlement of the lands of the 
Colorado, and of the country west of it, thereby increasing the cap- 
ital and' interest of that section of the country, which will result in 
important public improvements, increasing the facilities of com- 
merce and trade. . . 

h. The Act Creating the Third Commission. The third con- 
gress assembled at Houston in regular session on November 5, 1838. 
On the 15th of the same month Mr. Cullen, of San Augustine, in- 
troduced a bill "entitled an act for the permanent location of the 
seat of government."^ Nothing, however, was done till after the 
inauguration of the new administration on December 10th. The 
subject was then taken up and a lengthy parliamentary contest fol- 
lowed.^ As will be seen by referring to the act, it was proposed to 
take the matter entirely out of the hands of congress after the 
passage of this bill and to vest commissioners with the powers 
necessary to make a final selection of the site. The points most 

^House Journal, 3 Tex. Cong., .S3. 

UUd., 145, 196, 200-3, 204-6, 210, 211, 214, 215, 218, 220-229, 232, 292, 
297, 331; Senate Journal, ibid., 75, 78-80, 82-84. 



The Seat of Government of Texas. 211 

hotly contested were (1) the limits of the territory within which to 
locate the seat of government;^ (2) the right of the commissioners 
to make a final selection of the site — the majority favoring this 
method, while the minority contended for a selection of two sites 
within the proposed limits, leaving the final selection to the peo- 
ple;^ and (3) the time of removing from Houston. A decision 
of this last point was resei-ved until a later time. The final passage 
of the act determining the first and second questions was hailed as 
a distinct victory by the people of the West. On receipt of the 
news, the Matagorda Bulletin said, in its issue of January 
19: 

We are glad, very glad to hear, at least, that something positive 
has been done in this matter, as it will no doubt be the means of 
doing away with the many harassing hopes, doubts and fears, which 
have constantly been kept afloat since the first agitation of this 
matter. 

President Lamar approved the bill January 14, 1839. That 
part of the act relating to the creation of a commission and the 
selection of a site is as follows : 

Sec. 1. Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives of the Republic of Texas in Congress assembled. That there 
shall be and are hereby created five Commissioners, to be elected, 
two by the Senate and three by the House of Representatives, whose 
duty it shall be to select a site for the location of the Seat of Gov- 
ernment, and that said site shall be selected at some point between 
the rivers Trinidad and Colorado, and above the old San Antonio 
Eoad. 

HVe believe a majority of the members [of congress] are in favor of re- 
moving it [the seat of government] from Houston, but great diversity of 
opinion exists relative to the point at which it shall hereafter be located. 
Many of the eastern members are desirous that it should be located upon 
or near the Brazos, and many of the western members prefer the Colorado 
for the site. The few who desire to retain the seat of government at Hous- 
ton, thus far appear to hold the balance of power. — Telegraph, quoted by 
the Matagorda Bulletin, Janviary 10, 1839. 

^\nd from what quarter, Mr. Speaker, does this cry about the People 
come? Does it come from the East, where much the larest portion of the 
People reside? Does it come from the West? Where does it come from, 
but from Houston itself. If, Mr. Speaker, the People have cried out at 
all, and they have in a voice which has been heard throughout the whole 
land, it has been to remove the seat of Government from Houston. — From 
the speech of ]Mr. Holmes, delivered December 27, 1838, quoted in the 
Matagorda Bulletin, January 17, 1839. 



212 Texas Historical Association Quarterly. 

Sec. 2. Be it further enacted. That the name of said site shall 
be the city of Austin.^ 

Sec. 3. Be it further enacted. That said commissioners or a 
majority of them be, and they are hereby required to select, not 
less than one nor more than fonr leagues of land for said site, and 
if the same cannot be obtained upon the public domain, or by in- 
dividual donation, then and in that case the said commissioners 
shall purchase the aforesaid quantity of land from any person or 
persons owning the same : Provided, That the price of the land so 
purchased, shall not exceed three dollars per acre: And further 
provided. That not more than one league shall be purchased at so 
high a price as three dollars per acre. 

Sec. 4. Be it further enacted, That if the site selected by said 
commissioners shall be on individual property, and said commis- 
sioners shall not be able to purchase the same as herein before pro- 
vided, then and in that case they shall be and are hereby authorized 
aLd required to make application to the Chief Justice of the county 
court of the county in which said land may be situated; setting 
forth by petition the name or names of the owner or owners, where 
the land lies, giving a full description of the same, and the cause 
of their application; whereupon it shall be the duty of said Chief 
Justice to cause the sheriff or other officer of said county to summon 
fcix disinterested jurors, living within the county, to be and appear 
at the court house, on a day to be named by said Chief Justice, 
within not less than five nor more than fifteen days after said ap- 
plication is made, whose duty it shall be, after taking the requisite 
oath, to be administered by the Chief Justice, to hear testimony 
and determine upon the value of said lands; a majority of two 
thirds of said jurors shall be requisite to a verdict, which verdict 
shall be returned to the Chief Justice, and shall be final between 
the parties, and upon which the Chief Justice shall make his de- 
cree: Provided, always, That the owner or owners of said land 
shall have at least five days' notice, in the same manner and form 
as the law provides for defendants in other cases ; all of which pro- 
ceedings shall be recorded in the clerk's office of the county court, 
and an exemplification of the same given to said commissioners. 

Sec. 5. Be it further enacted. That the fees of said Chief Jus- 
tice and sheriff, and that the pay of said jurors shall be the same 
that the law provides for in other cases for similar services, and 
that the same shall be paid by the owner or owners of said prop- 
erty, to be collected as in other cases ; and that the sheriff of said 
county shall be and he is hereby authorized and required to make 

'The name City of Austin was adopted by tlie senate in lieu of that of 
"City of Texas" which had been adopted by the house of representatives. 
Austin was the name that had been oriven to the site on Eblin's League. 



The Seat of Government of Texas. 213 

to the Kepublic of Teaxs a deed or title to said land, which shall 
be recorded as in other cases, and delivered by said sheriff over to 
said commissioners. 

Sec. 6. Be it further enacted, That said commissioners shall be 
notified of their election by the President, that they shall enter into 
bond with good security of one hundred thousand dollars each, to 
be approved by the President, payable to him and his successors in 
office, conditioned for the faithful performance of the duties of 
their office; that they shall take and subscribe the following oath, 
which the President shall cause to be administered by an officer 
authorized to administer the same : that "I, A B, do solemnly swear 
(or affirm, as the case may be,) that I will faithfully and honestly 
perform the duties of commissioner for the location of the Seat of 
Government: That I will keep secret from all and every person 
whatsoever, all the proceedings, actings, doings, deliberations and 
intentions of myself and associates, so far as relates to our proceed- 
ings as commissioners: That I will, neither directly nor indirectly, 
neither in my own name nor in the name of another person, neither 
by myself or agent, nor in connection with any other person, pur- 
chase, bargain or contract for any lands, tenements or heredita- 
ments, within this Eepublic, from this time until my dnties as com- 
missioner shall have terminated." That said bond shall be filed in 
the office of the Secretary of State ; that said commissioners shall be 
authorized to draw a draft or drafts on the Treasurer of the Re- 
public for such sum or sums of money as may be necessary for the 
pa}-ment of the land purchased by them, payable at such time as 
may be agreed on by the contracting parties ; which drafts shall be 
signed by the commissioners and countersigned by the President; 
and that said commissioners shall commence their duties from and 
immediately after the close of the present session of Congress ; that 
they shall discharge all the duties herein required of them ; that 
they shall make a full and complete return and report of all their 
actings and doings as commissioners, to the President of the Re- 
public, within three months from and after which time they shall 
be and are hereby forever discharged. 

Sec. 7. Be it further enacted. That the said commissioners 
shall be, and are hereby allowed eight dollars per diem, durrug 
their term of service, one half of which shall be paid when they 
commence, and the other half when they close their duties; and 
that a draft or drafts drawn by the Secretary of State in favor 
of said commissioners, on the Treasurer, shall be sufficient vouchers 
and authority for his paying the same. 

Sec. 8. Be it further enacted, That from and immediately 
after the election of said commissioners, the Speaker of the House 
of Representatives shall furnish the President the names of said 
commissioners. 



214 Texas Historical Association, Quarterly. 

The foregoing act is remarkable ; it vested a few individuals with 
extraordinary powers and confided to their judgment the settlement 
of a most perplexing public question. It proved very effectual in 
the accomplishment of the end for which it was designed. The 
number of commissioners and the manner of their choice was the 
same as in the case of the second commission. There is room for 
doubt whether it was intended that members of congress should 
serve on the third commission. The expression "that said commis- 
sioners shall commence their duties from and immediately after the 
close of the present session of congress/' being similar to the lan- 
guage in the act creating the second commission, togetlier with the 
precedent set by constituting the second commission exclusively of 
members of congress, lend some color to the view that members of 
congress should serve or at least be eligible to serve on this com- 
mission. Notwithstanding all this, others contended that members 
of congress were barred from serving on the commission by con- 
stitutional provision. The restriction of the commissioners to that 
section of country lying between the rivers Trinity and Colorado 
and above the old San iVntonio road can not fail to excite the sur- 
prise of every one at all familiar with its primeval condition. The 
old San Antonio road crossed the Trinity at Bobbins Ferry, the 
Brazos near Tenoxtitlan, and the Colorado at Bastrop; it formed 
the northern boundary of Austin's colony, the settled portion of 
central Texas, In Januar}', 1839, there were but a few villages lo- 
cated north of this road; none of them possessed a population of 
one hundred inhabitants, except perhaps Bastrop ; the whole section 
was exposed to- Indian depredations. The measures adopted to secure 
the public interest were practical and adequate. No other officer 
of the Republic of Texas was required to give bond in the amount 
fixed for each commissioner, and it is difficult to see how an oath 
more explicit and yet more comprehensive could have been de- 
vised. 

That this act should escape criticism was not to be expected. To 
follow popular opinion in regard to it fully, one should have 
perused a file of each of the dozen newspapers published in Texas 
at that time. The collection available for this work includes only 
three for the early part of 1839. Until the founding of the Morn- 
ing Star, at Houston, on April 8, 1839, the first daily published 



The Seat of Governinent of Texas. 215 

in Texas, the opposition appears to have had no suitable organ to 
voice their dissatisfaction. This paper contended (1) that 
the idea of locating the seat of government by commissioners, ap- 
pointed by congress, "seems to us entirely absurd — the only satis- 
factory way is to leave it exclusively to the people;"^ and (2) that 
the act under which the seat of government was located was uncon- 
stitutional, inasmuch as it interfered with a contract previously 
made — the act locating the seat of government at Houston until 
1840.2 

c. Election of the Coiiiniissioners. The commissioners to select 
the site for the location of the seat of government were chosen by 
their respective houses of congress on January 15th^ and 16th.* 
A. C. Horton, of Matagorda, and I. W. Burton, of Nacogdoches, 
were chosen by the senate, and William Menifee, of Colorado, Isaac 
Campbell, of San Augustine, and Louis P. Cooke, of Brazoria, were 
selected by the house of representatives — two from western, two 
from eastern, and one from central Texas. These men were all 
members of congress at the time of their election. The question of 
eligibility of members of congress to this commission was raised 
in the senate; a motion was made to the effect that no member of 
the senate be selected, but the motion was lost by a vote of 3 to 9.^ 
Furthermore, of the nine men nominated in the senate five were 
non-members, but the election resulted in favor of those being mem- 
bers. In the house of representatives only members Avere placed in 
nomination. 

On January 18 — two days after the election of the commission- 
ers — the reporter of the house of representatives wTote to the editor 
of the Matagorda Bulletin: "It appears to be the general impres- 
sion here, at present, that the Colorado will be the favored river 

^Morning Star, April 12, 1839. This objection might have been answered 
by pointing to the fact that in May, 1838, congress had voted down a 
proposition to submit this question to the people (p. — above), and that 
the people gave no instructions to the representatives elected in September 
following, although they were a^are that this subject would again be con- 
sidered. 

''Morning Star, April 30, June 30, and July 27, 1839. 

''Senate Journal, 3 Tex. Cong., 108-110. 

*nouse Journal, ibid., 358. 

'Wm. H. Wharton filed a written protest against the action taken by 
this vote. — Senate Journal, 3 Tex. Cong., 109, 110. 



216 Texas Historical Association Quarterly. 

whose banks will be honored l>y the metropolis of Texas. '"^ The- 
next da}- — January 19th — an anonymons writer at Houston stated 

I am confidently of the opinion that the commissioners will select 
some point on the Colorado, ... If the seat of Government 
should be on the Colorado or near it, the improvement of W. Texas 
will be unprecedented in the annals of the world. . . . It is 
certainly a new idea in the history of the world that the seat of Gov- 
ernment should be situated on the frontier, that we should invade 
the country of the enemies of the white man with the archives of 
the nation, but any man who is acquainted with the situation of 
that beautiful country to which the commissioners are confined, 
will be satisfied that the prosperity of Texas will be rapidly ad- 
vanced by a location in that section of the country. It will cause 
the immediate settlement of one of the most desirable countries on 
the continent of America. I have no doubt that the new city will 
contain one or two thousand inhabitants by the first of October next. 
There will lie citizens enough around the spot to defend it from 
the attacks of all the forces which can be brought against it.- 

d. Report of the Coniiiiissioners. Congress adjourned January 
24, 1839. It was made the duty of the commissioners to take up 
their work immediately thereafter. The anonymous writer of the 
letter, quoted above, states that the commissioners had agreed to 
start on the 10th of February next to select a site for the seat of 
government. Fully two months elapsed Ijefore anything was learned 
in regard to their proceedings. The Morning Star of April 15th 
printed the following account of their final meeting at Houston: 

City of Houston, 
April 13, 1839. 
We the commissioners appointed for locating permanently 
the seat of government of the republic of Texas, having met this 
day by appointment at the Capital, the question was put by the 
chairman, A. C. Horton, as to which river, the Brazos or Colorado 
with the respective selections on each had the highest claims to our 
consideration in the discharge of the duty assigned us. The vote 
stood as follows: for the Colorado, Messrs. A. C. Horton, William 
Menifee, and L. P. Cooke; for the Brazos, Messrs. I. W. Burton and 
Isaac Campbell. 

The question was then put by the chair, as to which of the selec- 
tions on the Colorado river, viz : Bastrop or Waterloo was entitled 

^Matagorda Bulletin, January 24, 1839. 

^Letter dated Houston, Texas, January 19, 1839, reprinted by the Texas 
Monument, October 16, 1850, from the Alabama Observer. 



The Seat of Government of Texas. 217 

to their preference. It was unanimously determined that Waterloo, 
and the lands condemned and relinquished around it, was the 
proper site and was therefore their choice. 

A. C. Horton, Chairman. 
I. W. Burton, 
L. P. Cooke, 
Wm. Menifee, 
Isaac Campbell. 

Of even date with the above is the "full and complete return and 
report of all their actings and doings as commissioners" required 
by law^ to be made to the president : 

City of Houston 
April 13th A. D. 1839 
To, 

His Excellency. 

Mirabeau B Lamar, 

President of the Republic of Texas, 

The Commissioners appointed under an act of Congress dated 
January 1839, for locating the permanent site of the Seat of Gov- 
ernment for the Eepublic, have the honor to report to your Excel- 
lency. 

That they have selected the site of the Town of Waterloo on the 
East Bank of the Colorado Eiver with the lands adjoining as per 
the Deed of the Sheritf of Bastrop County bearing date March 
1839, and per the relinquishments of Logan A'andever, James 
Rogers, G. D. Hancock, J. W. Herrall, and Aaron Burleson by 
Edward Burleson all under date of 7th ]\Iarch 1839, as the site 
combining the greatest number of, and the most important advan- 
tages to the Republic by the location of the Seat of Government 
thereon, than any other situation which came under their observa- 
tion within the limits assigned them, and as being therefore their 
choice for the location aforesaid. 

We have the honor to represent to your Excellency that we have 
traversed and critically examined the country on both sides of the 
Colorado and Brazos Rivers from the Upper San Antonio road to, 
and about the falls, on both those rivers and that we have not neg- 
lected the intermediate country between them, but have examined 
it more particularly than a due regard to our personal safety did 
perfectly warrant. We found the Brasses River more central per- 
haps in reference to actual existing population, and found in it and 
its tributaries perhaps a greater quantity of fertile lands than are 
to be found on the Colorado, but on the other hand we were of 
the opinion that the Colorado was more central in respect to Ter- 
ritory, and this in connection with the great desideratums of health. 



218 Texas Historical Association Quarterly. 

fine ^ater, stone, stone coal, water power &c, being more abundant 
and convenient on the Colorado than on the Brasses river, did more 
than counterbalance the supposed superiority of the lands as well 
as the centrality of position in reference to population, possessed 
by the Brasses river. 

In reference to the protection to be afforded to the frontier by 
the location of the Seat of Government, a majority of the Com- 
missioners are of the opinion that that object will be as well at- 
tained by the location upon the one river as upon the other, being 
also of the opinion that within a very short period of time follow- 
ing the location of the Seat of Government on the Frontier, the 
extension of the Settlements produced thereby, will engender other 
theories of defence, on lands now the homes of the Comanche and 
thfc Bisson. 

The site selected by the Commissioners is composed of five thirds 
of leagues of lands and tv/o labors, all adjoining and having a front 
upon the Colorado river somewhat exceeding three miles in breadth. 
It contains seven thousand seven hundred and thirty five acres land 
and will cost the Eepublic the sum of Twenty one thousand dollars 
or thereabouts, one tract not being surveyed. Nearly the whole 
front is a Bluff of from thirty to forty feet elevation, being the 
termination of a Prairie containing perhaps two thousand acres, 
composed of chocolate colored sandy loam, intersected by two beau- 
tiful streams of permanent pure water, one of which forms at its 
debouche into the river a timbered rye bottom of about thirty acres. 
These rivulets rise at an elevation of from sixty to one hundred 
feet on the back part of the site of the tract, by means of which 
the contemplated city might at comparatively small expense be well 
watered, in addition to which are several fine bluff springs of pure 
water on the river at convenient distances from each other. 

The site is about two miles distant from and in full view 
of the Mountains or breaks of the Table Lands which, judging by 
the eye, are of about three hundred feet elevation. They are of 
Limestone formation and are covered with Live Oak and Dwarf 
Cedar to their summits. On the site and its immediate vicinity, 
stone in inexhaustable quantities and great varieties is found al- 
most fashioned by nature for the builders hands; Lime and Stone 
coal abound in the vicinity, timber for firewood and ordinary build- 
ing purposes abound on the tract, though the timber for building 
in the immediate neighborhood is not of so fine a character as 
might be wished, being mostly Cotton wood. Ash, Burr Oak, Hack- 
berry, Post Oak and Cedar, the last suitable for shingles and small 
frames. 

At the distance of eighteen miles west by south from the site, on 
Onion Creek, "a stream affording fine water power" is a large body 
of very fine Cyprus, which is also found at intervals up the Eiver 



The Seat of Government of Texas. 219 

for a distance of forty iiiiles, and together with immense quantities 
of fine Cedar might readily be floated down the stream, as the falls 
two miles above the site present no obstruction to floats or rafts, 
being only a descent of about five feet in one hundred and fifty 
yards over a smooth bed of limestone formation very nearly re- 
sembling colored marble. By this route also immense quantities of 
stone coal, building materials, and in a few years Agricultural 
and Mineral products for the contemplated city, as no rapids save 
those mentioned occur in the River below the San Saba, nor are 
they known to exist for a great distance above the junction of that 
stream with the Colorado. 

Opposite the site, 'at the distance of a mile, Spring Creek and its 
tributaries afford perhaps the greatest and most convenient water- 
power to be found in the Republic. Walnut Creek distance six 
miles, and Brushy Creek distant sixteen miles both on the east side 
of the river, afford very considerable water power. Extensive de- 
posits of Iron ore adjudged to be of very superior quality is foimd 
within eight miles of the location. 

This section of the Country is generally well watered, fertile in a 
high degree and has every appearance of health and salubrity of 
climate. The site occupies and will effectually close the pass by 
which the Indians and outlawed Mexicans have for ages past trav- 
eled east and west to and from the Rio Grande to Eastern Texas, 
and will now force them to pass by the way of Pecan Bayou and 
San Saba above the Mountains and the sources of the Guadalupe 
river. 

The Commissioners confidently anticipate the time when a great 
thoroughfare shall be established from Santa Fe to our Sea ports, 
and another from Red River to Matamoras, which two routs must 
almost of necessity intersect each other at this point. They look 
forward to the time when this city shall be the emporium of not 
only the productions of the rich soil of the San Saba, Puertenalis 
Hono^ and Pecan Bayo, but of all the Colorado and Brasses, as also 
of the Produce of the rich mining country known to exist on those 
streams. They are satisfied that a truly I^ational City could at no 
other point within the limits assigned them be reared up, not that 
other sections of the Country are not equally fertile, but that no 
other combined so many and such varied advantages and beauties 
as the one in question. The imagination of even the romantic will 
not be disappointed on viewing tb.e Valley of the Colorado, and the 
fertile and gracefully undulating woodlands and luxuriant Prairies 
at a distance from it. The most sceptical will not doubt its healthi- 
ness, and the citizens bosom must swell with honest pride when 
standing in the Portico of the Capitol of his Country he looks 
abroad upon a region worthy only of being the home of the brave 

^Probably intended for Llano. 



220 Texas Historical Association Quarterly. 

and free. Standing on the juncture of the routs of Santa Fe and 
the Sea coast, of Red Eiver and Matamoras, looking with the same 
glance upon the green romantic Mountains, and the fertile and 
widely extended plains of his country, can a feeling of Nationality 
fail to arise in his hosom or could the fire of patriotism lie dormant 
under such circumstances. 

Fondly hoping that we may not have disappointed the expecta- 
tions of either our Countrymen or your Excellency, we subscribe 
•ourselves Your Excellency's Most obedient Servants. 

A. C. Horton, Chairman 
I. W. Burton 
William Menefee 
Isaac Campbell 
Louis P. Cooke^ 

2. THE CITY OF AUSTIN. 

(1) The Site. 

"They have selected the site of the Town of Waterloo on the 
East Bank of the Colorado River with the lauds adjoining.''^ This 
sentence summarizes the result of the examination and delibera- 
tion of the commissioners, chosen to select a site for the permanent 
location of the seat of government of the infant Republic of Texas. 
Many considered these the magic words that would call into ex- 
istence a new and thriving metropolis, situated at the head of 
navigation of the Colorado, an entrepot that would soon divert the 
commerce of the prairies from its established route, and the seat of 
a "splendid national college filled with able and distinguished pro- 
fessors.'"' 

The town of Waterloo, to quote the words of the editor of the 
Morning Star, "is situated in Bastrop county, about 35 miles above 
the city of Bastrop on the Colorado river, and nearly at the foot of 
the mountains. . . . There are in the town itself but four 
families at present, and in another settlement a few miles from it, 
about twenty. Such in brief is the description of the location given 
us by one of the commissioners."-'' 

The name of the town of Waterloo had never appeared among 
those of the candidates for the location of the seat of government. 
Perhaps, the only mention of its name heard in congress was at the 

^Seat of Government Papers. ]MS. 

-See statement of eommissioners^ p. 217 above. 

^Morning Star. April 15, 1839. 



The Scat of Government of Texas. 221 

time of the passage of "An Act to Incorporate the To'.vns of Co- 
manche and Waterloo," ap])rove(! January 15, 183!). ' Various rea- 
sons have heen surmised why the commissioners should have se- 
lected this site.- To the student who has carefully scruti- 
nized the facts, the reasons stated by the commissioners 
in their report to President Lamar will appear both straight- 
forward and sufficient. The commissioners do not claim 
to have found the ideal location nor that "nature appears to have 
designated this place for the future seat of government;" they 
simply state that their selection is the best location within the 
limits assigned them. There was room for difference of opinion 
in regard to the fitness of the site for the purposes to which it was 
to be dedicated, without necessarily condemning the action of the 
commissioners. This fact, however, was not always kept in mind 
by the opponents of the city of Austin. 

Opposition to the site developed as soon as its location was ascer- 
tained. The Morning Star charged, first, that the commissioners 
had not performed their duties conscientiously; "we believe that 
as many as three sites have heen examined."^ Secondly, it stated 
that the only reason it was able to discover for selecting Austin was, 
that the commissioners there found "vacant lands to locate."* 
It further objected to the site of Austin on the ground 
that 

it possesses none of the advantages of a city — timber being scarce, 
water not too abundant, the situation remote from the Gulf, and 
there being no navigal)le stream near it, at least at present, the 
immediate surrounding country not being fertile, and the town 
being at the end of the road, beyond which there is nothing to 
see."^ 

These objections were effectually disposed of by a correspondent 
of the Telegraph. July 31, 1839, who was familiar with Austin and 
its vicinity. 

^Laws of the Bepuhlic of Texas. Pa.s-.srr/ the Fir.sf »Sfr.s.si«H of Third Con- 
gress, 1839, p. 48. 

-The Quarterly. II 110. 

^Morning Star, April 12, 1839. 

*Ibid., July 18, 1839. A. C. Horton replied to these or similar charges 
in the convention of 1845; see: Weeks, Debates of the Texas Convention 
[1845], p. 563. 

'Jhid., July 27, 1839. 



222 Texas Historical Association Quarterly. 

Another objection to Austin was raised by the Morning Star 
which perhaps has never presented itself to the minds of many, 
and that is the remoteness of the new location from the coast, and 
the delay which must thereby result in the transmission of im- 
portant information to the Executive department of the Eepublic. 
. . . Ours is almost entirely a country of foreign relations, and 
such being the case, it seems indispensable that the seat of govern- 
ment should be located near the coast, in order that all information 
may be received at headquarters as soon as possible. This objection 
to the new location may not always exist, it is true; but until we 
shall have become rich enough to have rail-roads, by means of which 
to transport news, it certainly must be regarded as a great one.^ 

No doubt there was much truth in this statement. But the truth- 
fulness was not the sole criterion by which to determine the part it 
should play in the discussion of this new question. It must be 
shown that the location of the seat of government near the coast 
would contribute more to the peace, security, settlement, progress 
and prestige of the country than its location at Austin. Texas pos- 
sessed a navy capable of protecting it's seacoast. "The propriety of 
placing the seat of government on the frontier was largely dis- 
cussed during the last session of congress. The reasons urged in 
favor of it were such as met the ap])robation of a large majority of 
the members, and of the nation. "- 

Again the Morning Star said : 

It seems not a little singular that it should have been thought 
advisable to locate the seat of government at a point where the 
public archives will be in an unsafe condition from its proximity 
to both of our enemies, the Indians and Mexicans. It cannot be 
supposed that in case of an invasion, the settlers on the lower Colo- 
rado, on the Brazos, or in any part of the lower country, will leave 
their families, and their homes defenceless, and rally around the 
seat of government: and that city, both from its situation and ac- 
cessibility, is probably the first to which the enemy would march, 
after having taken Bexar. ... Do not, then, good sense and 
sound policy combine, in urging the propriety of permitting the 
seat of government to remain where it is, at least till the war is 
over ?^ 

^Morning Star. .June 12^ 18.^!^. 
''Telegraph, July 31, 1839. 
'Mornmg Star, July 1, 1839. 



The Seat of Oovernment of Texas. 223 

The admission made by the Morning Star in the preceding para- 
graph, if true, was certainly most undiplomatic and well wuited to 
create a very unfavorable impression of the strength of the Republic 
of Texas. If true, all Texan diplomacy would have proved fruit- 
less, whether the seat of government liad been located on the coast 
or elsewhere. The mere suspicion in Europe that Texas could not 
protect her archives and the government at a point near the 
-geographical center of her imperial domain would have paralyzed all 
the negotiations of our ministers. Austin is at least two hundred 
miles from the nearest point on the Rio Grande. News of an in- 
vasion would outtravel any enemy sufficiently strong to endanger 
the seat of government. What portion of the frontier would be 
better prepared to meet an invasion than the seat of government 
with the executive, the secretary of war, and the postmaster general 
at hand to direct affairs ? And what of immigraflon ? Would new 
settlers risk their lives on the Texas frontier, after the facts alleged 
above were placed before them? And what did the infant Re- 
public of Texas need more than immigrants ? 

Now let the reader's attention be turned from what the oppo- 
nents had to say to the comments of friends of the West. On re- 
ceipt of the decision of the commissioners, the Matagorda Bulletin, 
May 2, 1839, said : 

We are almost every day seeing and conversing with persons who 
have visited Waterloo, the site selected for the recent location, and 
thus far, without a dissenting voice, all agree that it is a most 
judicious selection, and all speak in favorable temis of the beau- 
tiful country which surrounds it. . . . 

In a national point of view it will benefit us much, as it will be 
the immediate means of condensing population at a very important 
point of the frontier, and in such numbers as will put an end to the 
predatory incursions of small parties of Indians, whose numerical 
or physical force in the field is in reality nothing, but still whose 
inroads keep the frontier in constant alarm. 

Notwithstanding all the inquiries which we have made relative 
to the dangers which some persons think might be expected by the 
citizens of x^ustin from Indian warfare, we have been unable to 
discover that any cause of consequence for such fears exist, except 
in the imaginations of those parties who put such emphasis on them 
from pui-poses which the people can easily imagine. 

We espouse the course of active vigilance and the taking prudent 
means to prevent any cause of fear existing, by keeping an armed 



224 Texas llistorical Association Quarterly. 

force sufficient to ward off any dangers that might occur, but we 
cannot, from any circumstance within our knowledge, see any justifi- 
cation for ourselves in becoming unnecessary alarmists. 

Other notices along this line appeared in various papers. Below 
are given a few of the more comprehensive. The Morning Star, 
May 9, 1839, stated : 

The population between Washington and Lagrange has increased 
fourfold [in eighteen months], and Lagrange which at [the 
beginning of] that time had never been thought of for 
a town, now contains a population of four or five hun- 
dred inhabitants, and Kutersville, only five miles from La- 
grange, which was laid otf only six months ago, now con- 
tains about three hundred souls. On the Colorado river, between 
Lagrange and Bastrop there was about a dozen houses ; now there is 
between two and three hundred. Bastrop at that time contained 
about twenty houses ; it has now about two hundred, and many of 
them equal to the best houses in Houston. The settlements above 
Bastrop on the Colorado river, then consisted of about eight or ten 
families. It is now one of the thickest settlements in Texas. 

The Telegraph of June 13, 1839, said : 

Until the permanent location of the seat of government in that 
quarter of the frontier, many of the citizens were undetermined 
about remaining; but the final settlement of that point, together 
with the assurance that a nnmber of regular forces will be kept up 
in the country, have removed any remaining doubts upon the sub- 
ject. 

The Matagorda Bulletin of August 1, 1839, reported: 

The most cheering accounts are daily received of the immense 
emigration to the Upper Colorado and western country. We have 
always been satisfied that it was only necessaiT that the beautiful 
country situated there should be known to render it very shortly the 
most densely populated part of the Eepublic. The location of the 
seat of government at its present site has had the effect to bring it 
into notice. 

Austin proved its efficiency as a frontier defence before the gov- 
ernment was transferred thither. The commissioners in their re- 
port called attention to the fact that "the site occupies and will 
effectually close the pass by which the Indians and outlawed Mex- 
icans have for ages past traveled east and west to and from the 
Eio Grande to Eastern Texa.«." In Mav, 1839. while the seat of 



The Seat of Government of Texas. 225 

government was being surveyed. Manuel Flores and his band of 
Mexicans and Cherokees, who were on their way from Matamoras 
to Eastern Texas, were discovered while attempting to pass the 
Colorado by this old ford, pursuit was made, and they were over- 
taken a short distance from Austin. Flores was killed in the fray 
that ensued. The captured baggage of the party included several 
hundred pounds of powder and lead and documents that revealed 
or rather confirmed the fact that the Cherokees had entered into 
a plot with certain ^lexican officials for the extermination of the 
whites in Texas. ^ The discovery of these documents was the direct 
occasion for the steps leading to the expulsion of the Cherokees 
from Texas and in this manner frustrating their designs upon the 
lives of the white population of this Eepviblic. 

From the time of the removal of the government to Austin until 
the abandonment of that place, information of every large Indian 
foray and of the Mexican invasions in 1842 reached Austin at least 
a week earlier than it did those points situated near the Gulf coast. 

{2) Laying Out of the New City and the First Sale of Lots. 

The act for the permanent location of the seat of government 
also provided for the laying out of the site to be selected and for 
the sale of the lots. The sections relating to these subjects are as 
follows : 

Sec. 9. Be it further enacted. That immediately after the Presi- 
dent receives the report of the commissioners, it shall be his duty 
to appoint an agent, whose duty it shall be to employ a surveyor at 
the expense of the Government, and have surveyed six hundred and 
forty acres of land on the site chosen by the commissioners into 
town lots, under the direction of the President, which shall be, by 
said agent, advertised for sale for ninety days in all the public 
gazettes in the Republic, and also in the New Orleans Bulletin and 
Picayune, and said lots shall be sold at auction, to the highest bid- 
der, between the hours of ten A. M. and four P. M., and said sales 
may continue from day to day at the discretion of the agent; Pro- 
vided, however. That not more than one half of said lots shall be 
sold at the first sale; and that said agent shall cause to be made 
ten plots of said city, one of which shall be deposited with the 
President, one with the Commissioner of the General Land Office, 
one with the Texas Consul in New Orleans, one with the Texas 
Consul at Mobile, and the remainder of which shall l>e retained by 

'Morning Star, May 2.5, 27, and 28, 1839. 



226 Texas Historical Association Quarterly. 

the agent at said city; and the said agent shall receive a salary of 
eight dollars per diem, and a reasonable sum for purchasing sta- 
tionery, paying for printing, and a suitable office for the transac- 
tion of his business. 

Sec. 10. Be it further enacted. That said agent shall take and 
subscribe the following oath, (to be administered by any one au- 
thorized to administer the same,) that "I, A B, do solemnly swear 
(or affirm, as the case may be,) that I will truly, honestly and 
faithfully discharge my duties as agent; that I will neither directly 
nor indirectly, by myself or agent, in my own name, or in the name 
of another or others, either publicly or privately, purchase, bargain 
or contract for more than six lots, or be in any way interested in 
the purchasing, bargaining or contracting for any other lot or lots, 
lands, tenements, hereditaments included in or appertaining to that 
tract or parcel of country purchased or obtained by this government 
for the location of the seat of government, either to take effect dur- 
ing my agency, or at any time thereafter, so long as my agency 
shall continue, so help me God." And that said agent shall give 
bond and security, to he approved by the President, in the just and 
full sum of one hundred thousand dollars, which bond shall be de- 
posited in the office of the Secretary of State, payable to the Presi- 
dent or his successors in office, conditioned for the faithful perform- 
ance of his duties. 

Sec. 11. Be it further enacted. That said lots shall be sold for 
one-fourth payable at the time of sale, and the balance in three 
equal instalments of six, twelve and eighteen months; that upon 
failure of any purchaser or purchasers to pay said instalments, 
wdthin ten days after they become due, the property so purchased 
shall revert to the Republic, and such person or persons shall for- 
feit the sum or sums of money paid on said property; and the said 
agent shall issue his proclamation making known said reversion arid 
forfeiture, and the same shall thereafter be subject to sale, as 
though it had never been sold; and that said agent shall receive 
nothing but gold and silver, or the promissory notes of the govern- 
ment, or any and all audited drafts against this government, for 
said lots; all of which said agent shall make known in his adver- 
tisements, and on the day or days of sale. 

Sec. 13. Be it further enacted, That the said agent, before the 
sale of said lots, shall set apart a sufficient number of the most 
eligible for a Capitol. Arsenal, Magazine, University, Academy, 
Churches, Common Schools, Hospital, Penitentiary, and for all 
other necessary public buildings and pvirposes. 

Sec. 13. Be it further enacted. That said agent shall immedi- 
ately after each and every sale, report to the secretary of the treas- 
ury, and pay over to him all the proceeds of the same, and take his 
receipt therefor; and said agent shall be subject to the orders of 



The Seat of Government of Texas. 227 

the President from time to time, and shall dispose of no other prop- 
erty belonging to the government except that laid off into town 
lots, until authorized by Congress.^ 

In compliance witli section 9 the President promptly selected the 
man to act as agent. Even before the commissioners made their 
report, we find the following letter from the President's private 
secretary addressed to Edwin Waller and dated IMarch 2, 1839 : 

Ilis Excellency the President has instructed me to inform you 
that he will confer on you the appointment of Government Agent, 
for the new City of Austin, the future Capital of the Republic, 
and that he solicits an interview with you upon the subject as soon 
as practicable, preparatory to the necessary arrangements, etc.^ 

Mr. Waller's bond is dated April 12, 1839.^ Before proceeding 
to the site of his labors, he placed the requisite advertisement in the 
newspapers, stating that the first sale of lots would take place about 
ninety days from that date, on August 1st next.'* Mr. Waller aet 
out for Austin in the early part of May. 

The Morning Star of April 22, 1839, noted the fact that "Busi- 
ness in this city [Houston] is rapidly reviving. The roads are filled 
with teams from La Grange, Bastrop, and all the towns in the 
neighborhood of the newly located seat of government, coming down 
to obtain supplies." 

Writing from Austin on May 20, Mr. Waller stated that he had 
concluded a contract for surveying and laying off the lots with 
Pilie & Schoolfield, that the surveyors were to commence surveying 
the next day, and that he would urge on the work with all possible 
despatch.^ 

The plan of the city of Austin as laid out and surveyed under Mr. 
Waller's direction is shown by the accompanying reproduction of the 
first map. It will show at once the accuracy of the work, and the 
lofty conception held by the agent of what the future capital of 
Texas should be. Of prime importance was the selection of the 
most eligible site within the 7,735 acres constituting the govem- 

^Laws of the Republic of Texas, Passed the First Session of Third Con- 
gress, 1839, pp. 163-165. 

'Seat of €k)vernment Papers, MS. 

The Quartekly, IV 44, 45. 

*A copy of the advertisement, dated April 22, appeared in th&Moming 
Star, April 23, 1839. 

'Seat of Government Papers, MS. 



228 Texas Hisiorical Association Quarterly. 

ment's reservation. Here was an opportunity of making or marring 
a naturally beautiful location. Mr. Waller possessed the good 
taste as well as sound judgment to make the best of it; he selected 
the land lying between the "two beautiful streams" referred to by 
the commissioners. Tlie broad streets, the excellent location of the 
eapitol space, the names of the streets extending north and south 
■ — who would change them now? 

As the time for the first sale of lots (August 1) approached, the 
Morning Star attempted to defeat it entirely by republishing every 
argument that had hitherto been put forward against the new site. 
For instance, it stated that 

there is no reason to believe that the location will be a permanent 
one; but as this was made by nianagement, combined with self- 
interest, and as these components will exist in the next legislature, 
tJiere is not the slightest guarantee that that body may not find it 
to its interest to move again. There can be but two reasons why 
congress should have stricken out the word 'permanent''^ each 
equally affecting the investment of money in lots in the new seat of 
government ; and these are, either they hnew they were incompetent, 
or that if they had the right they could by leaving out the word, 
move the Capitol at pleasure, and thus maJ^e a series of specula- 
tions. The latter none would attribute to them :^ the former, then, 
must be the true one. Whatever was the cause, the location is not 
permanent, and the investment of money in lots in the city is not 
a safe one.^ 

Contrasted with the foregoing is the following from the Mata- 
gorda Bulletin for July 18, 1839: 

The time is fast approaching when the public sale of Lots at tlie 
City of Austin ... is to take place. . . . We under- 
stand that already numbers of persons are flocking to that point, 

^It is generally supposed that tlie act provides for iis'^permanent" loca- 
tion which is an error. That word was stricken ont in the passaoe of the 
bill through the Senate, and can not be found in the body of it. Through 
an error of the clerk it still remains in the caption. — Mornivcf t^tar, April 
20, 1839. 

^The legislature has shown on so many occasions such a vascillating 
spirit, and too often a disregard of the plighted faith of the nation, !hat 
the confidence of many persons in our integrity is much impaired, and as 
the location of the seat of government is only a matter of speculation, the 
ensuing congress having equal power with the preceding one, may take it 
into their hands to cancel the act of that body, and make still another 
location. — Morning Star. June 26, 1839. 

""Morninq mar,\l\\\y 27. 1839; cf. ibid.. April 20, June 20. 26, 27. July 
5, 8, 77, and 30. 






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Plan of the City op Austin, Drawn by L. J. Pilie, 1839. 

The original is a lithograph 18x24 inches in size. The above repro- 
duction of a tracing omits the figures indicating the dimensions of the 
lots and blocks. 



The Seat of Government of Texas. 229 

most of them with tlio intention of purchasing property on which 
to establish themselves as permanent settlers, others for the pur- 
pose of investing capital in the enterprise. . . . 

Man)' private individuals have their buildings already finished, 
with the purpose of immediately erecting them on their making a 
l)urchase, and we can scarcely inuigine a more lieart-stirring and 
cheering sight than will be jiresented at Austin during the time of 
the sale and after. 

Although the Cherokee War diverted attention from Austin and 
centered it upon the eastern portion of the Eepublic at the very 
time when the first sale of lots was to occur, an eager throng of 
purchasers gathered on the day fixed, August 1st. SheriflE Charles 
King of Bastrop county was the auctioneer. ^ The sale continued for 
one day. Two hundred and seventeen lots, one-third of the whole 
number, were sold at prices ranging from $120 for the lowest to 
$2,r00 for the highest. The total sales amounted to $300,000. 
The formal laimchiug of the new city was regarded as satisfactory 
and auspicious. 

3. Erection of the Public Fhiildingi<. 

Section 14 of the act for the permanent location of the seat of 
government provided for the erection of the public buildings at the 
site selected by the commissioners. It reads thus: 

Be it further enacted. That the President be, and he is hereby 
duly authorized and empowered to contract for all necessary public 
buildings, offices, &c., and draw on the treasurer for all such sums 
of money as may be necessary for the completion of the same.^ 

Section 1 of a supplementary act is as follows : 

Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Eepresentntives of the 
RepuhUc of Texas in Congress assemhJed, That the President be, 
and he is hereby required to have erected at the point which may be 
selected for the location of the Seat of Government, agreeable to the 
provisions of the act to which this is a supplement, such buildings 
as he may -deem necessary for the accommodation of the fourth an- 
nual Congress of this Eepuldic. together with the President and 
cabinet and other officers of the Government : Provided. Such loca- 

'IMrs. Julia Tips C4oet]i, The Fir.ft Hale of Town Lots in Austin, in 
The Austin Daily Statesman, March 19, 1905. 

^Latcs of the Republic of Texas, Pa.<tsed the First Session of Third Con- 
gress, 18.39, p. 165. 



230 Texas Historical Association Quarterly. 

tion should not be made at a point where such buildings can be ob- 
tained.^ 

Mr. Edwin Waller, who had been appointed by the President 
agent to la}' out the new site and conduct the first sale of lots, was 
also charged with the erection of the public buildings. 

The opponents of the removal from the city of Houston raised 
a hue and cry against the expenditure of the vast sums of money 
that would be required for these buildings. They alleged that this 
additional expense would prove very burdensome at this particular 
time.^ To these objections the supporters of the city of x4.ustin 
replied : 

We can see no reason or necessity why our Government should 
cause the immediate erection of public buildings of a splendid or 
costly nature, for the mere purpose of congressional or state depart- 
ments for the approaching session. Buildings of plain, simple, and 
least expensive kind will answer all the purposes required at pres- 
ent, and in the course of the next year, when the requisite con- 
veniences will be more easily obtained, or at such suitable time here- 
after as the Government may choose, buildings for the permanent 
use of the state can be more cheaply and substantially constructed.^ 

This, in fact, was the course pursued. The buildings were avow- 
edly of a temporary character and did not even occupy the sites 
reserved by the government for those to be erected for permanency 
in the future. The amount realized from the first sale of lots 
must have almost sufficed to pay the cost of the buildings con- 
structed by Waller. 

Mr. Waller displayed great energy and resourcefulness in over- 
coming the obstacles encountered in this new task, which certainly 
was not an ordinary one. Its very magnitude encouraged the op- 
position to hope for the defeat of the removal. For instance, the 
Morning Star of April 17, 1839, said: 

We consider the removal among the possibilities, but most cer- 
tainly not among the prohahillties. It appears to us absurd to sup- 
pose that the indispensable accommodations can be prepared for the 
President and other officers of Government, within the time speci- 
fied by law. . . . The remoteness of the place selected from 

'^La/ws of the Republic of Texas, Passed the First Session of Third 
Oongress, 1839, p. 90. 

^Morning Star, April 17 and 20, and June 20, 1839. 
*Matagorda Bulletin, May 2, 1839. 



The Seat of Government of Texas. 231 

any city at which the absolute necessities for building can be ob- 
tained, together with the scarcity of provisions throughout the 
country, would seem to render every idea of an immediate removal 
preposterous in the extreme. 

Having satisfied their own minds that the incompleteness of the 
buildings would delay the removal of the government to Austin, 
the opponents saw a necessity for a called session of congress at 
Houston in the early fall. This congress, of course, they said would 
not ratify the site of the city of Austin.^ In this manner the re- 
moval would in all probability be delayed for years. But the en- 
ergy of Waller in overcoming all obstacles dashed the plans of the 
opposition to the ground. A correspondent of the Telegraph, 
July 31, 1839, stated that "twenty or thirty buildings have already 
been completed, and that they are better buildings than were built 
during the first year in Houston. . . . The buildings will be 
ready, and be ready previous to the time prescribed by the law." 

A list of the public buildings erected by Mr. Waller as well as a 
description of their location is contained in the documents below; 

State Department 
December 3rd 1810 
Sir 

In accordance with the resolution of the Honorable the House of 
Eepresentatives of tlie 2nd Inst, the undersigned Secretary of State 
has the honor to submit the enclosed document, marked A, as pre- 
senting a schedule of all the public buildings known as such by the 
undersigned, and were all of them erected under a contract with E. 
Waller Esqr. before the removal of the Government from the City 
of Houston, . . . 

Your Obt Servant 

Abner S. Lipscomb 
Hon. David S. Kaufman 

Speaker of the House of Eepresentatives. 

A 
Memorandum of Lots on which Public Buildings have been erected. 



Block 


Lot 


124 


1 


J) 


6 



L. P. Cooks residence 

Kitchen adjoining L. P. Cook's residence — 

in the rear of alley between. 
110 6 [Judge Wallers residence]- Occupied by 

Committee on finance. 

^Morning Sltar, April 12, 1839. 

^ords enclosed in brackets are lined through in the orisdnal seliedule. 



232 



Texas Historical Association Quarterly. 



Block Lot 




110 7 


[Kitchen in the rear of No. 6] unoccupied 


98 5 


[Jno, D. McLeod's] Now occupied by State 


9 ] 
10 


Dept. store room for Laws, Jourls. &c 


}■ Capitol 


11 




83 6 


State Department 


3 


Judge Burnets 


1 


Navy Department 


12 


Judge Webbs. (This is separated from 




11-83 by a line drawn between the Exec- 




utive office and Judge Webbs) 


55 4 


Treasury Building 


43 7 


Land Office 


19 6 


Post Master General 


40 1 


[Johnson & Starr] occupied by Comt. of 




Eevenue 


41 9 


Pay Master Genl. & Stock Commissioner. 


56 10 


Commissary General 


84 1 


1st Auditors office 


3 


War Department 


6 


Adjutant General's Office 


97 1 


Quartermaster Generals 


111 3 


Mason's Eesidence 


85 4 " 
5 




8 
9 


Presidents House. 


10 . 


The within list is correct 




Wm. Sevey 


Treasury DepartT 


nent Actg Sec. Treasury. 


Nov. 28th li 


?40i 



3. REMOVAL OF THE GOVERNMENT TO AUSTIN ; THE SITE CON- 
FIRMED BY CONGRESS. 

(1) The Act Fixing the Time of Removal. 

It will be remembered that the "act for the permanent location 
of the seat of government" provided for the selection of the site 
and, in a general way, for the construction of the public buildings. 



'Seat of Government Papers, MS. 



The Seat of Government of Texas. 233 

But this act said nothing about the all important subject of re- 
moval from Houston, nor did it fix the time within which the new 
site should be surveyed, the lots sold, and the public buildings pro- 
vided. Here was a manifest defect. Whether the act was purposely 
cast in this form to facilitate its passage can scarcely be determined 
in the absence of the manuscript records of the act itself, which ap- 
pear to have been lost. It does seem that, after the passage of the 
abovementioned act, the passage of a supplementary act became a 
necessity in order to prevent much confusion. Before the lapse of 
ten days after the passage of the first act. President Lamar ap- 
proved "An Act Supplementary to an act entitled an act for the 
permanent location of the Seat of Government." 

Although- this supplementary act determined one of the most 
sensitive points of the whole subject of removal — the time of re- 
moval — very little is to be gathered from the record of the pro- 
ceedings of congress in regard to it.^ The Morning Star of June 
8, 1839, alleged that the law requiring the president and his cab- 
inet to resif^*^ at the new seat of government after the first of the 
succeeding October "was passed at a time of great excitement, and 
consequently, when the members were not in the full exercise of 
their reasoning facilities." 

That part of the act relating to the time of removal is contained 
in section 2, and is as follows: 

Be it further enacted. That it shall be the duty of the 
President, together with his cabinet officers, to proceed to the point 
selected for the location of the Seat of Government as aforesaid, 
together with the archives of this Government, previous to the first 
day of October next, at which place the fourth annual Congress of 
this Republic shall assemble on the second Monday in November 
next.^ 

(2) The Removal of the Government to Austin. 

The removal of the archives, etc., preceded that of the chief offi- 
cials. N"o incident worthy of note appears to have attended the 

'House Journal, 3 Tex. Cong.. 340, 341, 362, 371, 378, 384, 386; Senate 
Journal, ibid., 114, 116, 119. 

^Laws of the Republic of Texas, Passed the First Session of Third Con- 
gress, 1839, p. 90. 



234 Texas Historical Association Quarterly. 

same. The following brief paragraphs contain all the information 
the writer has found touching the transfer : 

In ahout twenty days, that is ahout the first of September, says 
common report, the officers of the government and the public 
archives will be on their "winding way" to the new city of Austin. 
Well, we have one consolation left, and that is, that we have done 
everything we could to prevent it, but it was of no avail. ^ 

Between forty and fifty wagons freighted with the archives of 
the government, and books, papers, and furniture of the different 
Departments, have left here for the City of Austin, the new Seat 
of Grovernment.^ 

By a gentleman from Austin we learn all government archives 
arrived at that city in safety, and that at the time of his leaving, 
all the offices of government were open for the transaction of busi- 
ness.^ 

President Lamar and a part of his cabinet followed later, reach- 
ing Austin October 17th. Their arrival was made the occasion for 
a grand celebration. An account of this interesting event is ex- 
tracted from the first number of the first newspaper published at 
the new seat of government, the Austin City Gazette for October 
30, 1839: 

In accordance with previous arrangements, such of the citizens 
as were able to procure horses assembled at 11 o'clock, on the morn- 
ing of the seventeenth, for the purpose of escorting his Excellency 
the President into town. The Honorable E. Waller was appointed 
Orator, and Captain Lynch and Mr. Alex. Eussell were appointed 
Marshalls for the day. Col. E. Burleson, at the special request of 
his fellow-citizens, took command of the whole. All arrangements 
being completed, the cavalcade moved forward in the following 
order : — 

Col. E. Burleson — General A. S. Johnston. 

The Marshalls. 

Citizen, Standard Citizen, 

bearing the motto on one side, 

"Hail to our Chief f 

On the reverse, 

"With this we live—" [STAR] "Or die defending." 

Orator of the day. 

Trumpeter. 

Citizens, — two and two. 

^Morning Star, August 13, 1839. 

'^Colorado Gazette, September 28, 1839, quoting from the [Houston] In- 
telligencer. 
''Telegraph, October 9, 1839. 



The Seat of Government of Texas. 235 

After proceeding about two miles beyond the city boundary they 
met his Excellency, accompanied by the Hon. L. P. Cook, Major 
Sturges, J. Moreland, Esq., Private Secretary and others. By a 
military movement. Col. Burleson reversed the order of march so 
as to place the Marshalls, Standard Bearer, and Orator, in the rear 
of the company. He then halted his command and drew them up 
in two parallel lines. As General Lamar passed down between the 
lines, the Orator of the day, supported by the Marshalls, and fol- 
lowed by the Standard Bearer, moved up and met his Excellency 
about the center. The Hon. E. Waller, having introduced the 
President to the citizens there present, addressed him in the follow- 
ing language: 

"Having been called upon, by my fellow-citizens, to welcome your 
Excellency on your arrival at the permanent seat of government for 
the Republic, I should have declined doing so on account of con- 
scious inability, wholly unused as I am to public speaking, had 
I not felt that' holding' the situation here that I do, it was my duty 
to obey their call. With pleasure I introduce you to the Citizens 
of Austin; and, at their request, give you cordial welcome to a 
place which owes its existence, as a city, to the policy of your ad- 
ministration. 

"ITnder your appointment, and in accordance with your direc- 
tion, I came here in the month of May last, for the purpose of pre- 
paring proper accommodations for the transaction of the business 
of the Government. I found a situation naturally most beautiful, 
but requiring much exertion to render it available for the purposes 
intended by its location. Building materials and provisions were to 
be procured when both were scarce; a large number of workmen 
were to be engaged in the low country, and brought up in the heat 
of summer, during the season when fever is rife, and when here, 
our labors were liable every moment to be interrupted by the hos- 
tile Indians, for whom we were obliged to be constantly on the 
watch; "many-tongued Rumor" was busy with tales of Indian 
depredations, which seemed to increase, in geometrical progression, 
to her progress through the country. Many who were on the eve 
of emigrating, were deterred by these rumors from doing so. In- 
terested and malicious persons were busy in detracting from the 
natural merits of the place ; and every engine of falsehood has been 
called into requisition to prevent its occupation for governmental 
purposes. Beauty of scenery, centrality of location, and purity of 
atmosphere, have been nothing in the vision of those whose views 
were governed by their purses ; and whose ideas of fitness were en- 
tirely subservient to their desire for profit. 

'TTnder all these disadvantageous circumstances, and more which 
I can not now detail, a capitol, a house for the chief magistrate of 



236 Texas Historical Association Quarterly. 

the republic, and a large number of public offices, were to be erected 
and in readiness for use in the short space of four months. 

"Not discouraged at the unpromising aspect of affairs, I cheer- 
fully undertook to obey your behests. Numbers of the present 
citizens of Austin soon emigrated hither ; and with an alacrity and 
spirit of accommodation for which they have my grateful remem- 
brance, rendered us every assistance in their power. 

"To the utmost extent of my abilities I have exerted myself, and 
have succeeded in preparing such accommodations as, I sincerely 
hope, will prove satisfactory to your Excellency, and my fellow- 
citizens of Texas. 

"In the name of the citizens of Austin, I cordially welcome you 
and your cabinet to the new metropolis; under your fostering care 
may it flourish ; and aided by its salubrity of climate, and its beauty 
of situation, become famous among the cities of the new world." 

His Excellency the President replied in a short but pithy and 
appropriate speech; and, after the cheering had somewhat sub- 
sided, the company was again put in motion, the march being di- 
rected homeward. As soon as his Excellency crossed the city line, 
a salute of twentj'-one guns Vvas fired from a six-pounder, under 
the superintendence of Major T. W. Ward. On reaching Mr. Bul- 
lock's hotel, where a sumptuous dinner was prepared for the occa- 
sion, a large concourse of citizens who had been unable, from want 
of horses or harness, to join in the cavalcade, stood ready to tender 
every mark of respect in their power, to the chief magistrate of the 
Republic. 

THE DINNER. 

James Burke, Esq., President; Dr. R. F. Brenham, Vice-Presi- 
dent. 

Among the guests who were present, we observed His Excellency 
the President, Col. E. Burleson, Hon. L. P. Cook, Secretary of the 
Navy; Gen. A. S. Johnston, Secretary of War; Hon. J. H. Starr, 
Secretary of the Treasury; A. Brigham, Esq., Treasurer; Col. W. 
G. Cook, Col. J. Snively, Major Sturges, J. Moreland, Esq.; C. 
Mason, Esq. ; M. Evans, Esq. ; Col. Johnson, Col. T. W. Ward, and 
others. 

The company took their seats at table, at 3 o'clock. The dinner 
provided under the immediate superintendance of Mrs. Bullock, re- 
flected great credit on that lady's taste and superior judgment, dis- 
played in the arrangement of the table, and in the delicacies which 
graced the festive board. After the cloth was removed, the Presi- 
dent of the day requested the attention of the company to a toast 
"which, he felt assured, would meet with the cordial approbation 
of every person whom he had the honor of addressing," he then 
gave, as the 



The Seat of Government of Texas. 237 

1st Eegulak Toast. Our Guest, Mirabeau B. Lamar, Pre3i- 
dent of the Eepublic of Texas: — His valor in the field of battle 
signally contributed to the achievement of Texian independence — 
his wisdom as a statesman has given vigor and firmness to our gov- 
ernment, and elevated its character abroad; — his lofty patriotism 
and distinguished public services command the admiration and 
gratitude of his fellow-citizens. 

Which was drank with the utmost enthusiasm. As soon as the 
cheering had somewhat subsided. His Excellency made a truly elo- 
quent reply, which, we are sorry, it is not in our power to give en- 
tire, or even in part. He concluded by requesting the company to 
join in the folloging toast, which was heartily responded to by all 
present : — 

The worthy founder of our new seat of government. Judge 
Waller: — By the touch of his industry there has sprung up, like 
the work of magic, a beautiful city, whose glory is destined, in a 
few years, to overshadow the ancient magnificence of Mexico. 

The presiding officers then gave the remainder of the regular 
toasts in the order as follows: 

2. Our country: — The star of her destiny has emerged from 
the clouds that obscured it, and is now fixed in the political firma- 
ment; may its luster continue undimmed by foreign aggression or 
domestic dissension. 

3. The Constitution and the Laws — the vital spirit of the body 
politic: — Whilst they are maintained pure and uncontamiuatei by 
political corruption. Liberty and Justice have here an abiding place. 

4. The United States: — Their history for the last sixty-three 
years has disproved the false doctrine of tyrants, ana show[n] to 
the world that man is capable of self-government. 

5. The Hon. David G. Burnet, Vice-President of Texas :— The 
history of his country is his best eulogy; he has "done the state 
some service and they know it:" we can say to him in the spirit 
of truth and justice, and in the voice of the whole people of Texas, 
"Well done thou good and faithful servant." 

6. The memory of Stephen F. Austin : — Wliatever may be the 
pretensions of others to the paternity of Texas, we recognize him 
alone as the "Father of this Republic." 

7. Education — the safeguard of republican institutions: — It 
should be sustained and cherished by every friend of civil liberty. 

8. The Press: — May it be conducted in the spirit of disinter- 
ested patriotism, as the honest echo of the public sentiment, and 
never be polluted by the poisonous influence of party. 

9. Col. E. Burleson: — His valor in the field is only equalled 
by his virtues in private life. In the history of his country, he 
will rank as the Sumter of the West. 



238 Texas Historical Associaiion Quarterly. 

10. The Federalists of Mexico: — May they speedily triumph 
over the despotic party which now keeps their country in civil war, 
and give the tree of Constitutional Liberty a firm foundation in 
the city of the Montezumas. 

11. Agriculture: — The surest foundation of our permanent 
prosperity ; — may it share largely in the industry and energy of our 
citizens, and he an object of paramount importance with our legis- 
lators. 

12. Trial by Jury and Eight of Suffrage — the main pillars of 
free government : — Whilst they stand upright, firmly based on pul)- 
lic virtue, the malign influence of despotic governments cannot 
reach the glorious edifice they sustain. 

13. The memory of Col. Benjamin Milam — the bayard of 
Texas : — A more gallant spirit never sprung from the "dark and 
bloody ground" of Kentucky, to battle in the cause of human 
liberty; as long as honor, patriotism and valor are appreciated by 
his countrymen, he will be gratefully remembered as the Hero of 
the West. 

The regular Toasts having been drunk, the following was then 
given by the Chair: — 

David G. Burnet — In private life, the obliging neighbor, the 
public spirited citizen, the devoted husband, the affectionate father, 
— In public service, the sagacious statesman, the wise and disin- 
terested politician, the able Cabinet officer — the bold and courag- 
eous soldier — his country's voice loudly and almost unanimously 
calls upon him to fill the Presidential Chair during the next term. 

After which Dr. Brenham, Vice-President gave: 

The Grovernment of Texas: — May it always be administered by 
honest and capable men for the interests of the whole people, and 
never be used as an instrument in the hands of unprincipled and 
designing politicians for personal aggrandizements and the advance- 
ment of party purposes. 

Different members of the Company assembled then offered a 
number of Volunteers' Toasts and Sentiments from which the fol- 
lowing have been selected : — 

By Dr. M. Johnson — The Single Star of Texas: — It is small but 
bright, and may it one day be the sun around which the Spanish 
Provinces will revolve. 

By E. Waller — The Hon. Louis P. CooTc: — In the Legislature he 
always defended the rights of the people watchfully and with elo- 
quence, at the head of the Navy Department, his course has been 
distinguished by energy, impartiality, modesty and talent; may he 
find his country grateful. 

By Mr. Bontreat — The Lone Star: — Now on its ascent, may it 
soon reach the zenith and there shine the brightest in the firma- 
ment. 



The Seat of Government of Texas. 239 

By M. H. Nicholson — Col. E. Burleson — Tlie North-western 
Champion of Texas: — He has stood like a dyke on our frontier 
nobly repelling the tide of savage depredation. 

By Dr. Johnson — The President and his Cabinets: — We can 
have no greater evidence of the wisdom and honesty of our Chief 
Magistrate than the selection of his Cabinets. 

By ]\Ia,]. W. J. Jones — The Star of Texas — Like the Star of 
Bethlehem, it will guide the wise men of all nations to the cradle 
of Liberty. 

By John Jarmon — To the Heroes of Texas: — Honour to those 
noble spirits, who fought, bled and suffered for the cause of free- 
dom in the revolution of Texas. 

By E. Waller — Hon. James Wehh: — His adopted countrymen are 
proud of him. He has filled and still fills a high office with abil- 
ities, dignity and rectitude. May he one day be called to the high- 
est office. 

By J. Jarmon — President Lamar: — As chief servant of the peo- 
ple, he has thns far discharged his duties with honor to himself and 
justice to the whole Eepnblic. His name shall be handed down as 
one of the great western stars. 

■ By J. McLeod — Our Treasurer, Maj. A. Brigham: — An honest 
man is the noblest work of God. 

By Gr. W. Bonnell — The People of Texas: — They know their 
rights, and knowing, dare maintain them. 

By Gr. W. Moore — Our Infant Republic: — She will soon be 
recognized and well Icnown throughout the world. 

By a Citizen — Judge E. Waller: — He has wisely improved the 
talent entrusted to him, may he one day be entrusted by the people 
with the greatest in their gift. 

By Charles Schoolfield — The City of Austin: — The Commission- 
ers who were appointed by Congress to select a site for the seat of 
government : justice to their selection and honor to their judgment. 

By T. G. Forster — The President of Texas: — Our skillful me- 
chanic. — may we never have a worse cabinet-makek. 

By a Citizen — The Press of Texas: — May it ever continue ele- 
vated in its moral tone — pure and disinterested in its patriotism — 
the unwavering advocate of the true interests of the country, with- 
out regard to party. 

By a Citizen — Education — the safeguard of our republican in- 
stitutions : — It deserves to be fostered and promoted, by every 
friend of liberty. 

By a Citizen — Female Education — the only security for the per- 
manence of female charms : — May all the true friends of the fair 
sex be ever found zealous in its promotion. 

By M. H. Beaty — E. Moore, Commander of the Texian Navy — 
'Texas expects him to do his duty." 



240 Texas Historical Association Quarterly. 

By Dr. S. Booker — ^Ym. G. Cook: — His services will be remem- 
bered as long as Texas shall appreciate chivalry and patriotism. 

By T. G. Forster — Maj. Wm. J. Jones: — Brave among the brav- 
est, wise among the wisest, and a man among men. 

By a Citizen — Sam Houston and San Jacinto — They will be re- 
membered as long as Texas possesses a single freeman. 

By a Citizen — General A. Sidney Johnston: — A scholar, a sol- 
dier, and a gentleman ; the highest qualities a man can possess. 

His Excellency rose from the table about 8 p. m., and the com- 
pany, soon after, dispersed; all, apparently, highly pleased with 
the entertainment of the day. 

(3) The Site Confirmed by the Fourth Congress. 

A feeble and unsuccessful effort was made to involve the new 
seat of government in the September elections.^ It was also pre- 
dicted that congress would not hold its session at this place. For 
instance, the Morning Star of June 20, 1839, said: 

Not one of the most sanguine friends of the new location has ever 
expressed, in our hearing, his belief that the next congress would 
hold its session there. The prevailing opinion is, that the mem- 
bers will assemble there and adjourn to this place. 

If the thought of adjourning to Houston was entertained by any 
of the members of congress, their plans were completely frustrated 
by the breaking out of yellow fever in that city some time prior 
tc the assembling of congress.^ 

The fourth congress assombled at Austin on the second Monday 
in November; a quorum was had in both houses on the first day. 
On assuming the chair in the senate, Vice-President Burnet said: 

I cannot on this interesting occasion omit congratulating you on 
the new scenes which surround us. 

The selection of an appropriate site for the permanent location 
of the Govt has long been a subject of general concernment, in- 
volving deep and various solicitudes throughout the community. 
To those who consulted only the common good, it was replete with 
interest and anxiety, because of the inherent difficulty of choosing 
among so great a multitude of seemingly eligible positions as our 
country affords. That the selection of this beautiful and pictur- 

^Morning Star, April 15 and August 1, 1839. 

''Colorado Gazette, November 9, 1830; Anson Jones, Republic of Texas, 
22: Statement of Francis Moore. Jr., in Weeks, Debates of the Texas Con- 
vention [1845], p. 208. 



The Seat of Government of Texas. 241 

esque spot, fit residence of the fabled Hygeie, will quiet all appre- 
hensions, and satisfy all persons, is more than the most enthusiastic 
advocates can expect. That it will fulfill, in an eminent degree, the 
great purposes of its selection can scarcely be questioned; provided 
the government itself will exert the necessary means to render it, 
as it ought and may be easy of access to all sections of the Republic. 
Having no private interest to subserve, either by changing or con- 
tinuing the present location I feel a freedom in remarking, that 
frequent removals of the seat of government are not only costly, 
and otherwise injurious in our domestic concerns, but are apt to 
excite suspicions abroad of instability in the government 
itself. . . } 

President Lamar also referred to the subject in his message, read 
next day, November 12th. After recounting the difficulties at- 
tending the removal, he said : 

I have great pleasure in meeting the Representatives of the peo- 
ple for the first time assembled at the permanent Seat of G<ivt. The 
act of the last Congress directing the removal of the Public Ar- 
chives from the City of Houston was an expression of legislative 
will too decisive to permit me one moment to falter in carrying it 
out. Arrangements were accordingly made immediately after the 
adjournment for the survey of the City of Austin and the erection 
of the necessary offices and public buildings, to be commenced so 
soon as the commissioners chosen to select the site should have 
made their report. The time allowed for the work was so exceed- 
ingly limited as to render its accomplishment apparently imprac- 
ticable; yet I am happy in having it in my power to announce to 
you, that the agent appointed to superintend the undertaking, did 
succeed, by extraordinary energy, in preparing such accommoda- 
tions as have enabled the officers of Govt, to resume their duties 
at the new city on the first of October as directed by law, with very 
little inconvenience to themselves, and no derangement of the pub- 
lic business beyond its temporary suspension. . . . 

I congratulate you, gentlemen, and the country in general, that 
a question which has so deeply excited our National Legislature 
has thus been put at rest; and sincerely hope that no similar sub- 
ject will arise in future to abstract your attention from the har- 
monious consideration of such matters of general & local policy as 
may be regarded essential to the prosperity of the nation. That the 
selection of the site now occupied will command universal appro- 
bation, is not to be expected. A diversity of opinion upon such sub- 
jects is the unavoidable result of the diversity of interests and local 

^Senate Journal, MS., November 11, 1839. State Department. 



242 Texas Historical Association Quarterly. 

prejudices which must necessarily exist in a country so widely ex- 
tended as ours; but its geographical position, the apparent health- 
fulness of its climate, the beauty of its scenery, the abundance and 
convenience of its material for constructing the most permanent 
edifices, its easy access to our maritime frontier, and its adaptation 
to protection against Indian depredation, thereby inviting settle- 
ments to one of the finest portions of our country, [afford] ample 
proofs of the judgment and fidelity of the commissioners, and 
ahundant reason to approve their choice. That you and others will 
experience some privations which might have been spared if the 
location had been made in a section of the country of greater popu- 
lation and improvement is certainly true ; but I cannot believe that 
a people who have voluntarily exchanged the ease & luxuries of 
plentiful houses, for the toils & privations of a wilderness will re- 
pine at the sacrifice of a few personal comforts which the good of 
the nation may require of them.^ 

The opponents to the new site, however, were not to be placated 
with fair words ; they must have their say, and it took the form of 
the following bill, which Avas introduced in the house of representa- 
tives by Mr. Lawrence, of Harrisburg,- who had in the January 
preceding at Houston thoroughly identified himself with the op- 
position : 

A Bill to be entitled An Act for the temporary location of the 
Seat of Government. 

■ Whereas much clamor, and excitement prevails [throughout] the 
body politic, in relation to the location of the Seat of Government, 
and 

Whereas believing it to be a duty encumbent upon us, as the 
Eepresentatives of the people, to consult their views and subserve 
their interests with a due regard to those principles of economy, 
which should ever characterize the Legislation of a free people, and 

Whereas being impressed with a solemn conviction of the evils 
which have arisen, and which must inevitably arise from the pres- 
ent unsettled state of this perplexing and all-absorbing question, 
for remedy whereof 

Section 1st Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Eepre- 
sentatives of the Eepublic of Texas in Congress assembled. That 
on the fourth IMonday in May in the year of our Lord one thousand, 
eight hundred and forty, it shall be the duty of the qualified voters 

'Lamar's Message, in Senate Journal, "MS., State Department. 

-House Journal ns printed in the Austin City Gazette. January 1, 1840. 
The Journals of the Fourth Congress Averc never printed. The Senate 
Journal has been preserved in manuscript in the Department of State, but 
the Journal of the House of Representatives appears to have been lost. 



The Seat of Government of Texas. 243 

for members of congress in the several counties of the Republic, 
to assemble at their respective places of holding elections for mem- 
bers of congress, for the purpose of temporarily locating the seat 
of Government, for the term of twenty five years, from and after 
the close of the first session of the fifth annual congress of this 
Republic — when and where it shall be their duty to select by ballot, 
as between the City of Austin and the site at the great falls of the 
Brazos River, which was condemned by the commissioners elected 
by the third annual congress of this Republic for the location of the 
seat of government, to be known and voted for as the City of 
Texas. 

[Sections 2 and 3 provided for the manner of holding the elec- 
tion and publishing the result of the vote.] 

[Sections 4 to 13 are very nearly a verbatim copy of the act un- 
der whose provisions Austin had been selected. See pages 50 and 
51 above.] ^ 

The bill was called up November 28, made the order of the day 
for December 2, and then debated for three days.^ Sam Houston 
was a member of the house, and the journal notes the fact that he 
''strenuously advocated the bill."^ General Houston's opponents, 
or rather the supporters of the city of Austin, stated that it was 
"his declared determination to effect the removal of the Seat of 
Government from Austin, — even should it cause a division of the 
Republic." . . . His supporters took exception to this state- 
ment of his position, and declared that he used the following lan- 
guage : "If some respect is not paid to the east, if the present loca- 
tion of the Seat of Government is persisted in, it [will ca]*use 
much evil — even a division of the Republic — it should be 
[ . . . ]■* forever set at rest — it should be referred to the peo- 
ple, for them to decide at the ballot box."^ 

Mr. Muse, of Nacogdoches, spoke along similar lines; he said: 

He had heard something of the doctrine of nullification in the 
United States; and why the excitement produced there upon the 
subject? Because a portion of the States considered their rights 
trampled under foot by national legislation, though not by the in- 
triguery of a small minority, but an almost unanimous voice; yet 
. . . they rose in all their majesty of state pride, with a de- 

*File 1217, Papers of 4 Tex. Congress, MS., State Department. 

^Hovse Journal, in Austin City Gazette, January 15 and 22, 1840. 

^Ihid.. January 22, 1840. 

*Words torn off. 

^Austin City Gazette, April 8, 1840. 



244 Texas Historical Association Quarterly. 

terinined resolution, stood forth so as to bring about a modification 
of their injuries. Suppose the injury complained of had affected 
two-thirds or three-fourths of the people of that nation, what must 
have been the consequences ? None will deny but that the national 
authorities would have been overturned. . . . Though South 
Carolina was but one State, she asserted her rights against the other 
twenty-three. Will not eastern and central Texas do the same, 
when they are composed of more than two-thirds of the population 
of Texas, all of whom are enraged at the outrage committed upon 
their rights, and upon the general interest of their adopted coun- 
try, to serve the interest of the few, and of a particular section? 
Will they quietly and calmly submit, or will they assert their 
rights? . . } 

The debate was finally terminated, when Mr. Menifee, one of the 
commissioners that located the seat of government, moved to strike 
out the enacting clause. This motion was carried by a vote of 21 
to 16 ;^ it was cast on strictly aectional lines. 

The handsome vote with which the bill for reopening the question 
of the location of the seat of government was disposed of, after the 
thorough discussion it had received, created the impression that the 
subject would now be permitted to rest. "It is to be hoped," writes 
Mr. Holmes, representative from Matagorda, "that this vexatious 
and exciting question will now be considered settled, and that it 
will not be revived or agitated for many years to come. Judging 
from the opinions expressed by the members from the East at the 
opening of congress, I am fully convinced that a large majority of 
the citizens of Eastern Texas are satisfied if not pleased with the 
present location, and that they will suffer the question to rest in 
peace."^ This idea of permanency was reinforced by the passage 
of "An Act to authorize the erection of Government Buildings"; 
viz., a building intended for the use of the State Department and 
General Land Office which was to be of stone and as nearly fire- 
proof as possible.'* A traveler writes at Austin on January 12, 
1840, "Should the seat of government remain permanently fixed 
in this place, which is now highly probable, this whole region must 

^Austin City Gazette, April 8, 1840. 

^For the "Yeas" and "Nays," see Austin City Gazette. January 22, 1840. 
»E. L. Hclmes to Editor of the Colorado Gazette, December 19, 1839, 
printed in the Colorado Gazette, January 11, 1840. 
'Act approved January 28, 1840. 



The Seat of Government of Texas. 245 

soon smile . • . with plenty •"! Anson Jones, 
senator from Brazoria, after congrees ad- 
journed, remained in Austin, married, built 
a house on Pecan street, "and spent the sum- 
mer principally in making improvements on 
[hisj place ,"2 



ITexas in 1840, or the Emigrants 's Guide 
to the Hew Republic, 65; Edward Stiff, The 
Texas Emigrant, 33 « 

2Anson Jones, Republic of Texas, 22. 



E. P. Wilmot, Pres't Henry Hirshfeld, 2nd Vice-Pres't Wm. H. Folts, Cashier 

Walter Tips, Vice-Pres't. M. Hirshfeld, Aas't Cashier 



PLEASE NOTE THE LAST 

OFFICIAL STATEMENT 

OF THE CONDITION OF THE 

AUSTIN NATIONAL BANK 

AUSTIN, TEXAS 

AT THE CLOSE OF BUSINESS, NOVEMBER 12tH, 1906. 

UNITED STATES DEPOSITARY 



RECAPITULATION 

RESOURCES 

Loans and interest-bearing- securities .* $1,647,780.35 

Real estate, furniture and fixtures 11,015.61 

U. S. bonds and redemption fund.. $217,500.00 

Avoilable cash $1,339,705.61 1,557,205,61 

Totol $3,216,00L57 

LIABILITIES 

Capital $ 150,000.00 

Surplus and Profits 315,676.02 

Circulation 150,000.00 

Bank Deposits I 674,282.04 

U. S. Government Deposits 59,022.60 

Individual Deposits 1,867,020.91 

Total Deposits 2,600,325,55 

Totol $3,216,001.57 

THE ABOVE STATEMENT IS CORRECT 
Wm. H. Folts, Cashier 

Calling" attention to the foregoing statement of the con- 
dition of this bank, we respectfully solicit your business. 
Our patrons, irrespective of the size of their accounts, will 
receive careful and considerate attention, and as liberal ac- 
commodations will be extended them as are warranted by 
the account and prudent banking. 



THE QUARTERLY 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



014 495 536 5 



OF THE 



TEXAS STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION 



The manag"ement wishes to announce that the back 
volumes of the Quarterly can be purchased and that a 
complete set will be available as soon as the reprints are 
made. The first four volumes will be reprinted some 
time this year and will be sold at the following prices, on 
the installment plan, or for cash on delivery: 

$4.25 per volume unbound; 

$5.00 per volume bound in vellum cloth; 

$5.40 per volume bound in leather. 

Volumes V and VI are still to be had in the orig-inal 
copies for the following- prices: 

$3.00 per volume unbound; 

$3.75 per volume bound in vellum cloth; 

$4.15 per volume bound in leather. 

All the remaining volumes can be had for: 

$2.00 each unbound; 

$2.75 for a vellum cloth binding; and 

$3.15 for the leather binding. 

The Association pays the express charges on all 
shipments. 

Any member desiring to exchange loose numbers for 
bound volumes may do so by paying 75 cents for the cloth 
binding and $1.15 for the leather per volume. 



ADDRESS 

THE TEXAS STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION, 

Austin, Texas, Book Department. 



